Name: The Return of the Condor Heroes
Author: Jin Yong

The great barrier of ritual propriety.

The feast at Lu Village was laid out anew, fresh cups and plates arranged across the hall. Yang Guo¹ had endured a lifetime of grievances, suffering countless humiliations and slights. Only today had he finally held his head high, having rendered great service to the jianghu of the Central Plains² and earned the newfound respect of all present. His pride was boundless. What filled him with even greater joy was this: after long months of yearning, he was at last reunited with Xiaolongnü,³ all past misunderstandings dissolved, their affections now in perfect harmony.

Xiaolongnü saw the joy suffusing Yang Guo’s features and knew that beyond the relief of their lovesickness, he was also elated at having driven off Jinlun Guoshi⁴ and his disciples. She too was exceedingly happy. Huang Rong⁵ had grown quite fond of her, holding her hand and asking after her welfare, insisting she sit beside her at the table. Xiaolongnü saw that Yang Guo was seated between Guo Jing⁶ and the Diancang Fisherman,⁷ far away from her, and quickly beckoned: “Guoer,⁸ come sit beside me.” But Yang Guo understood the distinction between men and women. In the first rush of their reunion he had briefly forgotten himself and revealed his true feelings, but now, under the gaze of so many eyes, to display such intimacy again seemed improper. Hearing her call, he could not help but flush, and though he smiled faintly, he did not go over.

Xiaolongnü called again: “Guoer, why won’t you come?” Yang Guo said, “I am fine sitting here. Uncle Guo is speaking with me.” Xiaolongnü’s fine brows drew together slightly. “I want you to sit beside me,” she said. Seeing the displeasure in her expression, Yang Guo’s heart gave a sudden lurch. That look of tender reproach, for this, he would gladly be ground to dust. Once, simply because Lu Wushuang’s⁹ scowl had borne a faint resemblance to Xiaolongnü’s, he had fought off her enemies and escorted her a thousand li.¹⁰ Now that the real person stood before him, how could he offer the slightest resistance? He rose at once and walked to her seat.

Huang Rong observed the expressions of the two and grew faintly suspicious. She promptly ordered a seat arranged and asked Yang Guo, “Guoer, who taught you this martial arts of yours?” Yang Guo pointed at Xiaolongnü. “She is my teacher, Auntie Guo. How can you not believe me?” Huang Rong had always known him to be crafty, but seeing Xiaolongnü’s utterly artless and innocent manner, she judged that this girl could not possibly lie. She turned to ask her: “Little Sister, did you teach him his martial arts?” Xiaolongnü was rather proud. “Yes,” she said. “Do you think I taught him well?” Only then did Huang Rong believe it. “Extremely well! Little Sister, who was your teacher?” Xiaolongnü said, “My teacher has already passed away.” As she spoke, her eyes reddened and grief welled up in her heart. Her teacher had originally trained her to suppress the seven emotions and six desires,¹¹ but now that her love for Yang Guo had awakened, the deep feelings hidden in her heart were gradually seeping out.

Huang Rong asked further: “May I ask your esteemed teacher’s honoured name?” Xiaolongnü shook her head. “I do not know. Teacher was just Teacher.” Huang Rong assumed she was unwilling to say, it was common enough in the jianghu for people to keep their lineage private, and pressed no further. In truth, Xiaolongnü’s teacher had been Lin Chaoying’s¹² personal maidservant, known only by a servant’s diminutive name, even she herself did not know her own surname.

At this point, the great heroes of every martial school came forward one after another to offer toasts to Guo Jing, Huang Rong, Xiaolongnü, and Yang Guo, celebrating their victory over the Golden Wheel National Preceptor. Guo Fu,¹³ who had always commanded respect wherever she went alongside her parents, now found herself utterly eclipsed. Apart from the Wu brothers¹⁴ continuing their customary attentions, not a single person paid her any notice. Frustrated and sullen, she said, “Elder Brother Wu, Younger Brother Wu, let us stop drinking and go play outside.” Wu Dunru¹⁵ and Wu Xiuwen¹⁶ agreed in unison. The three rose and were about to leave the hall when they heard Guo Jing call out: “Fu’er, come here.” Guo Fu turned to see that her father had moved to sit at her mother’s table and was beckoning to her with a beaming smile. She approached and called, “Father, Mother.” She leaned against Huang Rong.

Guo Jing said to Huang Rong with a smile, “At first you worried that Guoer’s character was flawed, and you feared his martial arts were too weak to match Fu’er. Surely now you have nothing more to say? He has rendered such great service to the heroes of the Central Plains. Never mind that he has committed no fault, even if he had been somewhat rash and done something wrong, his merits would still outweigh his errors.” Huang Rong nodded and smiled. “This time my judgement was mistaken. Guoer is excellent in both character and martial arts, and I am truly delighted as well.”

Hearing that his wife had agreed to their daughter’s marriage, Guo Jing was overjoyed. He said to Xiaolongnü, “Miss Long, your disciple’s late father and I were sworn brothers in years past.¹⁷ The Yang and Guo families have been close for generations. I have but one daughter, and her looks and martial arts are passable enough…” True to his straightforward nature, he spoke whatever was on his mind. Huang Rong interjected with a laugh, “Oh dear, with all this boasting of yours, are you not afraid Miss Long will laugh at us?”

Guo Jing gave a hearty laugh and continued: “It is my wish to betroth my daughter to your worthy disciple. Both his parents have passed away, so this matter must be decided by you, Miss Long. Taking advantage of this gathering of heroes, let us add joy upon joy, shall we invite two elders of high virtue and standing to serve as matchmakers and settle the engagement?” In those times, marriages were arranged by the parents’ command and the matchmaker’s word. The man and woman themselves had little say in the matter. It was for this reason that, years ago, Guo Jing’s father Guo Xiaotian¹⁸ and Yang Guo’s grandfather Yang Tiexin¹⁹ had betrothed their children before they were even born.

Having spoken these words, Guo Jing gazed at Yang Guo and his daughter with a beaming smile, fully confident that Xiaolongnü would happily bring this fine match to fruition. Guo Fu had long since blushed crimson and hidden her face against her mother’s bosom. She felt something was not right, yet dared not say a word.

Xiaolongnü’s expression shifted slightly. Before she could reply, Yang Guo had already risen to his feet and bowed deeply to Guo Jing and Huang Rong. “Uncle Guo, Auntie Guo, the great kindness you have shown in raising me, and the affection you now extend, are debts I could never repay even if my body were ground to powder. But your nephew comes from a humble family, and his character is base and low. I am utterly unworthy of your noble daughter.”

Guo Jing had assumed that with his own and his wife’s fame spanning the land, and their daughter being a first-rate talent in both beauty and martial arts, Yang Guo would be overjoyed at receiving this proposal in person. He never expected a flat refusal. For a moment he was stunned, but then it occurred to him that the boy must simply be young and bashful, demurring out of shyness. He laughed heartily and said, “Guoer, we are not strangers. This is a matter of lifelong importance, there is no need to be embarrassed.” Yang Guo bowed again, lowering himself until his hands touched the ground. “Uncle Guo, Auntie Guo, if you have any task to command of me, your nephew would go through fire and boiling water without hesitation. But this command of marriage, I truly dare not obey.” Seeing the gravity in his expression, Guo Jing was greatly bewildered. He looked to his wife, hoping she would clarify matters.

Huang Rong silently reproached her husband for his directness, blurting out the proposal before the entire assembly without first sounding things out, only to slam headlong into a wall. She had observed the expressions exchanged between Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü and could see a deep, lingering affection there, but the two had clearly acknowledged themselves as teacher and disciple. Could it be that they had acted contrary to all propriety and committed some perverse, immoral act? This, however, was difficult to believe. She thought to herself that although Yang Guo might not be a gentleman of the highest order, surely he would not behave so recklessly. The people of the Song dynasty²⁰ placed the utmost importance on ritual and law. The hierarchy of respect between teacher and disciple was regarded as equal to that between ruler and subject, between father and son, it could not, under any circumstances, be violated. According to the “Three Bonds and Five Constants,”²¹ the ruler guides the subject, the father guides the son, and the husband guides the wife. A teacher was equivalent to a father, hence the compound term shifu,²² “teacher-father.” For a teacher to marry a disciple, or a disciple to marry a teacher, was equivalent to incest between father and daughter, or between mother and son. People of that era could not even conceive of such a thing.²³

Huang Rong had her suspicions, but the matter was so grave that she dared not yet believe them. She asked Yang Guo, “Guoer, is Miss Long truly your teacher?” Yang Guo said, “Yes!” Huang Rong asked further: “You have kowtowed and performed the full ceremony of discipleship?” Yang Guo said, “Yes.” As he answered Huang Rong, his eyes remained fixed on Xiaolongnü, his face radiant with tenderness and joy, brimming with deep love and intimate affection. Even if Huang Rong had not been extraordinarily perceptive, any bystander could have seen that the relationship between these two was anything but an ordinary teacher-disciple bond.

Guo Jing, however, still did not grasp his wife’s intent. He thought, He already said Miss Long is his teacher, and their martial arts are clearly of the same school, what could be false about that? I bring up our daughter’s marriage, and Ronger starts asking about their lineage? Well, he first entered the Quanzhen Order²⁴ and later switched to another teacher. Though that violates the rules of the jianghu, it is not impossible to resolve.

Seeing the expressions of Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, Huang Rong was secretly alarmed. She cast a meaningful glance at her husband and said, “Fu’er is still young. Why rush her marriage? Today the heroes are gathered, we should be discussing matters of national importance. These private family affairs, let us set them aside for now.” Guo Jing thought this made sense and quickly said, “Quite right, quite right. I nearly let private concerns override public duty. Miss Long, the matter of Guoer and our daughter’s engagement, we can discuss it gradually another day.”

Xiaolongnü shook her head. “I myself wish to marry Guoer and be his wife,” she said. “He will not marry your daughter.”

These two sentences rang out crisp and clear. Several hundred people in the great hall heard every word. Guo Jing started in shock and rose to his feet, unable to believe his own ears, yet seeing her holding Yang Guo’s hand with such intimate familiarity, he could not help but believe. Stammering, he said: “He… he is your dis… disci… disciple, is he not?”

Xiaolongnü had lived long in the underground Ancient Tomb, never seeing sunlight, and her face was consequently bloodless, paler than ordinary folk. But at this moment, her heart brimming with joy, her complexion bloomed like a flower at first opening. Smiling radiantly, she said: “Yes! I taught him martial arts before, but his martial arts are now as strong as mine. He is fond of me in his heart, and I am very fond of him too. Before…” Here her voice dropped low. Though innocent and unspoiled, a young woman’s shyness is inborn. Slowly she continued: “Before… I thought he was not fond of me, that he did not want me to be his wife. I… I was so miserable I thought it would be better to die. But today I have learned that he truly loves me. I… I…” The hundreds of people in the hall sat in utter silence, listening to her pour out the secrets of her heart. Ordinarily, how could a young woman, no matter how full of ardent love, proclaim it so publicly? And how could she confide such things to Guo Jing, a man with no connection to her? But she understood nothing whatsoever of ritual, law, or the ways of the world. She felt these words needed to be spoken to someone, and so she spoke them.

Yang Guo, hearing her bare her soul with such sincerity, was profoundly moved. But seeing the shock, bewilderment, embarrassment, and disapproval on every face around them, he knew that Xiaolongnü, in her innocence, had spoken words that ought not to be spoken in this place. Taking her hand, he rose and said gently, “Gugu,²⁵ let us go.” Xiaolongnü said, “All right.” Side by side, they walked toward the hall’s exit. Though the great hall was filled with the assembled heroes, nearly a thousand strong, in Xiaolongnü’s eyes there was only Yang Guo.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong stared at each other in stunned bewilderment. In all their lives, the two of them had experienced countless strange, difficult, and perilous situations, yet before the matter now confronting them, they had no idea how to respond.

Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo were about to walk out of the great hall when Huang Rong called out: “Miss Long, you are the Alliance Chief of the jianghu under heaven, the hopes of the multitude rest upon you, and all eyes are fixed on your example. This matter deserves careful reconsideration.” Xiaolongnü turned back and gave a radiant smile. “I cannot be any Alliance Chief or whatever. Elder Sister, if you like, please take the position yourself.” Huang Rong said, “No, if you truly wish to yield the position, it should go to our senior hero, the former Chief Hong.”²⁶ The title of Alliance Chief of the jianghu was the most honourable and prestigious position a martial artist could hold, yet Xiaolongnü did not give it the slightest thought. Smiling carelessly, she said, “Do as you please. I do not understand any of this anyway.” Taking Yang Guo’s hand, she once more moved toward the exit.

Suddenly, sleeves billowed in a rush of wind and the red candles flickered. A figure leaped from among the seated guests, robed in Daoist vestments, a longsword held before him. It was none other than the Quanzhen Daoist Zhao Zhijing.²⁷ He barred the entrance with his sword and shouted: “Yang Guo, you have betrayed your teachers and disgraced your ancestors, you are already beneath contempt. Now, in committing this bestial act, how can you still face heaven and earth? So long as this Zhao has breath in his body, he will never permit it.” Yang Guo had no wish to entangle himself with this man before the assembled crowd. Lowering his voice, he said: “Step aside.” Zhao Zhijing bellowed: “Junior Brother Zhen,²⁸ come here! You tell us, that night on Mount Zhongnan, when we saw with our own eyes these two stripped naked together, what were they doing?” Zhen Zhibing²⁸ rose to his feet, trembling. “They, as teacher and disciple they wish to marry each other. It is no business of ours!”

That night, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü had been practising the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra²⁹ among the flowers when Zhao Zhijing and Zhen Zhibing stumbled upon them. Yang Guo had forced Zhao Zhijing to swear an oath that he would not speak of it to a fifth person. Who could have imagined that today he would slander them so brazenly before this great assembly? Yang Guo was beside himself with rage. “You swore a heavy oath not to speak of it to a fifth person!” he shouted. “How can you be so… so…” Zhao Zhijing threw back his head and laughed. “Indeed, I swore not to tell a fifth person. But before me now there is a sixth, a seventh, a hundred, a thousand. None of them is the fifth person! You committed your filthy deeds, so naturally I may speak of them.”

When Zhao Zhijing had seen the two of them together in the flowers late at night, their clothing dishevelled, how could he have imagined they were practising the highest levels of martial arts? Now, in his fury, he blurted it all out, not out of deliberate malice, but from genuine belief in what he had seen. That night, Xiaolongnü had been so enraged by this that she had vomited blood and nearly died. Now, hearing his cunning sophistry, she could endure it no longer. She reached out and pressed lightly against his chest. “You had best not speak recklessly,” she said. By now she had long since mastered the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, and this palm strike was delivered without trace or shadow. The Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was, moreover, the natural counter to all Quanzhen martial arts. Zhao Zhijing thrust out his hand to parry, but Xiaolongnü’s palm had already circled past his arm and reached his chest.

Zhao Zhijing’s parry met empty air, startling him greatly, but the other’s palm had merely brushed his chest and withdrawn, leaving no sensation whatsoever. Unconcerned, he sneered: “What are you touching me for? I’m not…” Before he could finish, his eyes suddenly bulged. With a thud, he toppled onto his back and lay motionless, having sustained a severe internal injury.³⁰ Since Lin Chaoying had first created the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, this move had never before been used to deal a serious blow to a Quanzhen disciple. Quanzhen martial arts were defeated so utterly that not only could they not retaliate, they could not even manage the slightest resistance.

Sun Bu’er³¹ and Hao Datong³² saw their martial nephew injured and rushed forward to support him. His face was flushed crimson, as though drunk, and though he struggled he could not rise from the ground. A great mouthful of fresh blood followed. Sun Bu’er gave a cold laugh. “Well, well, your Ancient Tomb Sect truly means to make war on our Quanzhen Order.” She drew her longsword, ready to engage Xiaolongnü. In her heart she was secretly terrified, knowing that if she crossed swords with Xiaolongnü, she would likely be defeated in no more than a move or two. But cornered as she was, she had no choice but to issue the challenge.

Guo Jing hastily leaped out from among the tables and placed himself between the two sides. “We are all on the same side, let us not fight among ourselves,” he urged. Turning to Yang Guo, he said: “Guoer, both sides are your teachers and elders. Persuade everyone to return to their seats, there will be time enough to sort out right from wrong.”

Xiaolongnü had never imagined that in this world there could exist people who spoke binding words and then broke them, this treacherous faithlessness. Profoundly disgusted, she took Yang Guo’s hand and frowned. “Guoer, let us go. We shall never see these people again!” Yang Guo followed her two steps forward.

Sun Bu’er’s longsword flashed. “You think you can injure a man and simply leave?” she barked.

Seeing that the two sides were about to clash once more, Guo Jing spoke with solemn gravity: “Guoer, you must stand firm and live as a proper man. Do not bring ruin and disgrace upon your name. It was your Auntie Guo who gave you your name, do you know the meaning of the character ‘Guo’?”³³

Yang Guo’s heart jolted at these words. Suddenly childhood memories flooded back, all the grief and humiliation he had suffered. And he thought, How is it that Auntie Guo gave me my name?

Guo Jing loved Yang Guo deeply, and precisely because of that love, his demands were strict and his reproaches severe. Having watched Yang Guo distinguish himself so brilliantly before the assembled heroes this day, he had been brimming with satisfaction, only to suddenly discover that the boy had done something utterly unforgivable. Anxiety made his voice especially harsh. “Your late mother must have told you, you bear the single name ‘Guo.’ What is your courtesy name?”³⁴ Yang Guo remembered that his mother had indeed mentioned it, though he was so young that no one had ever addressed him by his courtesy name, and he had nearly forgotten it himself. “It is ‘Gaizhi,’” he answered. Guo Jing said sternly: “That is correct. And what does that mean?” Yang Guo thought for a moment and recalled the classics Huang Rong had once taught him. “Auntie Guo meant that when I commit a fault, I must repent and correct it.”

Guo Jing’s tone softened somewhat. “Guoer, every person has faults. To err and then reform, there is no greater goodness than this. These are the words of the ancient sages. Your disrespect toward your teacher is a grave fault. Think on it carefully.”

Yang Guo said: “If I were wrong, naturally I would correct myself. But he…” He pointed at Zhao Zhijing. “He beat me and humiliated me, deceived me and hated me. How can I acknowledge him as my teacher? As for Gugu and me, we are pure and innocent, as the sun in heaven can bear witness. I respect her and love her. Can this truly be wrong?” He spoke with eloquence and righteous conviction. Guo Jing’s wit and eloquence were far inferior, how could he argue against him? Yet he knew in his heart that Yang Guo’s conduct was gravely, terribly wrong, though he could not find the words to explain it. All he could manage was: “This… this… in any case, you are in the wrong…”

Huang Rong stepped forward slowly and said gently: “Guoer, Uncle Guo wants only what is best for you. You must understand this.” Hearing her gentle words, Yang Guo’s heart stirred. He lowered his voice and said: “Uncle Guo has always treated me well. I know that.” His eyes reddened, and tears nearly fell. Huang Rong said: “He is advising you with kind words. You must not misunderstand his intent.” Yang Guo said: “I simply do not understand, what fault have I committed?” Huang Rong’s expression hardened. “Do you truly not understand, or are you playing games with us?” Yang Guo felt indignant. You treat me well, and I return that kindness, what more do you want from me? He bit his lip and did not answer. Huang Rong said: “Very well. Since you want me to speak plainly, I will not beat around the bush. Miss Long is your teacher, which makes her your elder and superior. Between you, there can be no romantic attachment between man and woman.”

This rule was not something Yang Guo was wholly ignorant of, as Xiaolongnü was. But he simply could not accept it. Why, merely because Gugu had taught him martial arts, could she not be his wife? Why, when he and Gugu had done nothing improper, would even Uncle Guo refuse to believe them? He was by nature a person who feared neither heaven nor earth, stubborn, extreme, and fiery. Now, feeling wrongfully accused, he threw all caution to the wind. Loudly he declared: “What have I done that offends you? Whom have I harmed? Gugu taught me martial arts, but I insist on making her my wife. You may cut me with a thousand blades, with ten thousand blades. I will still make her my wife.”

These words struck the assembly like a thunderbolt, shocking and horrifying all who heard them. The people of the Song dynasty were rigidly bound by ritual and law. To hear such reckless, defiant words against the natural order was unspeakably painful, as painful as hearing someone openly declare their intention to marry their own mother. Guo Jing, who all his life had held his teachers in the deepest reverence, felt his rage surge upward. He lunged forward and grabbed at Yang Guo’s chest.

Xiaolongnü, startled, reached out to block him. But Guo Jing’s martial arts far surpassed hers, and in his towering fury he held nothing back. With a sweeping motion, he flung Xiaolongnü more than ten feet away. His hand shot out and seized Yang Guo by the Tiantu acupoint³⁵ at the base of his throat. Raising his left palm high, he roared: “You little beast! How dare you utter such monstrous, immoral words?”

Caught in Guo Jing’s grip, every ounce of strength drained from Yang Guo’s body. Yet in his heart he felt not the slightest fear. Clearly and calmly, he said: “Gugu loves me with all her heart, and I feel the same toward her. Uncle Guo, if you wish to kill me, then strike. This conviction of mine, I will never change, not through all eternity.” Guo Jing said: “I have treated you as my own son. I will not permit you to do wrong and refuse to repent.” Yang Guo raised his head proudly. “I am not wrong! I have done no evil! I have harmed no one! Even if you grind my bones to dust, I will still marry Gugu and never, ever be parted from her!” Each word was delivered with the finality of a cleaver striking stone, ringing with absolute conviction.

Hearing this, the heroes in the hall all felt a chill in their hearts. They could not deny that his words carried a certain logic. If the two of them, as teacher and disciple, had said nothing to anyone and gone off to some paradise beyond the world, or some desolate island in a barren land, to become husband and wife, remaining forever unknown, truly, no one would have been harmed. So long as they never revealed their relationship as teacher and disciple, this perfectly matched couple, so handsome and so beautiful, could indeed marry without troubling anyone or harming anything. But to behave so brazenly, without the slightest restraint, this defied the morality of the age, making them not only degenerates in the jianghu, but villains and reprobates in society at large.

Guo Jing raised his palm. His voice was sorrowful. “Guoer, my heart aches terribly. Do you understand? I would rather you were dead than see you do evil. Do you understand?” By the end, his voice was choked with sobs.

Yang Guo knew that if he did not change his words, Uncle Guo would strike him dead with a single palm. Though at times he could be cunning and full of tricks, at this moment he was more stubborn than ever. Clearly and firmly, he said: “I know I am not wrong. I must marry Gugu and make her my wife. If you forbid it, then strike me dead.”

Guo Jing’s left palm hung high in the air. If this blow landed on the crown of Yang Guo’s head, what chance would he have to survive? The assembled heroes held their breath in utter silence. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on that suspended palm.

Xiaolongnü had heard Yang Guo’s ringing declaration: “Even if you grind my bones to dust, I will still marry Gugu and never, ever be parted from her.” Her heart and soul were intoxicated with bliss. In her own heart she cried out just as loudly: Even if you grind my bones to dust, I will still marry Guoer and never, ever be parted from him. Seeing Guo Jing seize Yang Guo and prepare to strike, she darted forward and stood at Yang Guo’s side. Loudly she declared: “I must marry him and be his wife. Strike me dead along with him!”

Guo Jing’s left palm hung motionless in the air for a long moment. He looked at Yang Guo once more and saw him biting his lip, his brows tightly knit, the very image of his father, Yang Kang,³⁶ in years past. A piercing ache filled his heart. With a long sigh, his right hand released Yang Guo’s collar. “Think it over carefully,” he said. He turned away, returned to his seat, and did not look at him again. His face was etched with grief, his spirit utterly exhausted.

Xiaolongnü beckoned. “Guoer, these people are terribly unreasonable. Let us go.” Yang Guo thought the word “unreasonable” was indeed apt. Striding toward the hall’s entrance, he took Xiaolongnü’s hand, and together they walked out. Outside the manor, they retrieved their lean horse³⁷ and departed on their own.

The assembled heroes watched the two figures recede into the distance. Some felt contempt, some pity, some anger, some astonishment.

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü walked side by side. The night had grown deep. Now that the two of them were reunited after their long separation, far from the dust and clamour of the world, the fierce battles and bitter arguments of moments ago had already faded completely from their minds. They felt only that life had now reached its most perfect state, that all their past days had been lived in vain, and that even the future need not be lived at all. Their hearts were in silent communion. Without exchanging a word, they walked on until they came to a weeping willow. They sat down beneath it, leaned against the trunk in the tree’s shade, and gradually, overcome with weariness, drifted into a deep sleep. The lean horse grazed on the green grass in the distance, occasionally letting out a low whinny.

When they awoke, the sky was already bright. They looked at each other and smiled. Yang Guo said: “Gugu, where shall we go?” Xiaolongnü was silent for a long moment. “Let us return to the Ancient Tomb,”³⁸ she said at last. Ever since descending the mountain, she had found that for all its bustle and splendour, the world of men could never match the freedom and ease of the Ancient Tomb. Yang Guo thought to himself, To spend my whole life with Gugu in the Ancient Tomb. I could ask for nothing more. Once he had yearned for the outside world and had only wished she would let him leave the Tomb. But after wandering through that world for a time, he found himself longing for the tranquil life of the Tomb. His face broke into a radiant smile. “Wonderful!” he said. The two turned northward and proceeded at a leisurely pace. He still called her “Gugu,” and she still called him “Guoer”, both felt that this was the most natural way to address each other.

At noon, their conversation turned to Jinlun Guoshi’s martial arts. Both agreed that his skill was formidable and difficult to match. Xiaolongnü suddenly said: “Guoer, the seventh section of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, we never managed to practise it properly. Do you remember it?” Yang Guo said: “I remember it, but no matter how we tried to work through it together, it never came out right. There must be something we were doing wrong.” Xiaolongnü said: “I could not figure it out either, but yesterday, when that old Daoist nun flicked her sword a few times, it made me think of something.” Yang Guo recalled the sword moves Sun Bu’er had used the previous day and suddenly understood. “That’s it, that’s it!” he cried. “It requires using Quanzhen martial arts and the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra at the same time. No wonder we could never get it right.”

Years ago, when Lin Chaoying, the founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect, had lived alone in the Tomb and created the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, her purpose had indeed been to counter Quanzhen martial arts. Yet her feelings for Wang Chongyang³⁹ had never diminished. Thus, while the earlier sections all used Jade Maiden Heart Sutra techniques to overcome Quanzhen methods, when she reached the seventh section, she began to imagine that one day she might fight alongside her beloved against a common enemy. The martial arts in this section therefore required one person to use the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra and the other to use Quanzhen techniques, not opposing each other, but supporting each other, dividing to advance and combining to strike. In those days, Lin Chaoying’s heart had been twisted with longing, her love profound and boundless, her tender yearning poured entirely into this martial scripture. The crossing of twin swords was merely the surface. The true purpose was to join hands in vanquishing the foe. Yet in the stone carvings she left behind, it was inconvenient to spell out these feelings of her heart. When Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo had first practised it, their mutual affection had not yet blossomed, and they could not grasp their founder’s deeper intent.

Now, having grasped the insight together, each broke off a willow branch and began working through the moves, one by one. Xiaolongnü slowly executed the Jade Maiden Swordplay,⁴⁰ while Yang Guo used the Quanzhen Swordplay.⁴¹ But after several exchanges, they still found it difficult to merge the two. What they had failed to realise was that when Lin Chaoying created this sword art, she had imagined herself fighting alongside Wang Chongyang against a common foe, every move and stance designed for mutual coordination and protection. Now, with Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü practising against each other, each treated the other as an enemy, thrusting and striking, slashing and hacking, naturally the pieces did not fit. In truth, both Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang had been first-rate masters of their age. Either one alone would have had no equal who could stand against them, so this combined sword art had no real practical use, it was merely Lin Chaoying indulging her imagination to give form to her longing. By the time she created this sword art, her martial arts had reached their peak. The moves were swift and fierce, dense and seamless, allowing not the slightest deviation. Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, not understanding the intent behind it, naturally found it difficult to execute with ease. In truth, when the two of them had first practised the seventh section of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, they had already been protecting and aiding each other. But during that practice, Yang Guo had been unable to resist embracing Xiaolongnü, and both had known it was improper. Afterwards, whenever they encountered such martial arts, they had avoided practising them, lest their minds wander and they repeat the same mistake.

Having previously avoided these techniques whenever they encountered them, they were naturally unpractised. After training for a while, they still felt something was off. Xiaolongnü said: “Perhaps we have remembered it wrong. Let us return to the Tomb and check the original before practising further.” Yang Guo was about to reply when he suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats in the distance, a single rider racing toward them. In the blink of an eye, the rider swept past like a gust of wind. It was none other than Huang Rong, mounted on the Little Red Horse.⁴²

Yang Guo had no wish to encounter her family again and invite further trouble, so he suggested to Xiaolongnü that they take a side road to avoid meeting her ahead. Though Xiaolongnü was his teacher, she understood nothing beyond martial arts. When Yang Guo proposed the side road, she raised no objection. That night they stayed at a small inn. Yang Guo slept on the bed, while Xiaolongnü, as always, stretched a rope across the room and slept suspended upon it. Both had already resolved to become husband and wife, but for years in the Ancient Tomb they had slept in just this manner, and now, reunited, they naturally continued their old habits and their nightly training. They merely took comfort in knowing that their beloved was close by, and that from now on they would never be parted.

The following day at noon, the two arrived at a large market town. The streets were thick with people, carts and horses streaming back and forth in lively bustle. Yang Guo took Xiaolongnü to a restaurant for a meal. They had just climbed the stairs when he stopped short. There, at a table, sat Huang Rong with the Wu brothers, eating their meal. Yang Guo thought that since they had run into each other, it would be awkward to pretend otherwise. He stepped forward, bowed, and said: “Auntie Guo.”

Huang Rong’s brows were deeply furrowed, her face clouded with worry. “Have you seen my daughter?” she asked. Yang Guo said: “No. Is Sister Fu not with you?”

Before Huang Rong could answer, footsteps sounded on the stairs and several people ascended. The foremost among them was a towering figure. Jinlun Guoshi. Yang Guo hastily turned his head and quietly returned to Xiaolongnü’s side. “Turn your face away,” he whispered. “Do not look at them.” But Jinlun Guoshi’s eyes were razor-sharp. The moment he mounted the stairs, he had taken in everyone on the upper floor. With a cold, contemptuous laugh, he swaggered to a table and sat down. Yang Guo had already turned his head away when he suddenly heard Huang Rong cry out: “Fu’er!” He could not help but look back, and saw Guo Fu seated at the same table as the National Preceptor. Guo Fu stared helplessly at her mother but dared not approach.

The truth was that after his defeat at Lu Village, Jinlun Guoshi had nursed his resentment and schemed for a way to turn defeat into victory. Moreover, Huo Dou⁴³ had been struck by the Jade Bee Needles,⁴⁴ and the poison had flared up. Every remedy they had tried had proven useless, making it all the more urgent to seize the antidote. For these reasons, the National Preceptor had not gone far, but had lingered in the vicinity of Lu Village. It was Guo Fu’s misfortune to encounter this great enemy. Early that morning, she had ridden the Little Red Horse out for a gallop and run straight into him. He had snatched her from the saddle. The Little Red Horse, being exceptionally intelligent, had galloped back to the manor, whinnying in distress. Guo Jing and the others, realising their daughter was in danger, had scattered in search of her. Huang Rong, though pregnant, had taken the Wu brothers and searched back and forth, arriving in this town where she encountered Yang Guo and his teacher. She had not expected that the National Preceptor, holding Guo Fu captive, would also come to this very restaurant.

The moment Huang Rong saw her daughter, shock and joy surged through her together. But seeing her in the grip of a powerful enemy, after that one cry she said no more. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and traced lines across the table, racking her brains for a rescue plan. As she was pondering, she heard the National Preceptor say: “Chief Huang, this must be your beloved daughter? The other day I saw her nestled in your arms, cooing and clinging, most charming indeed.” Huang Rong gave a cold snort and did not answer. Wu Xiuwen rose and shouted: “For a man who claims to be a grandmaster of a school, to bully a young girl after losing a fair contest, have you no shame?” The National Preceptor acted as though he had not heard. He continued: “Chief Huang, in our contest the other day, you clearly lost, yet you resorted to all manner of interference. That is not the conduct of true heroes. First, give me the antidote for the poisoned needles. Then we shall set a date and compete fairly, to determine once and for all who shall be the Alliance Chief of the jianghu.” Huang Rong gave another cold snort and still did not answer.

Wu Xiuwen shouted: “First release Miss Guo. We will immediately hand over the antidote. The matter of the contest can be discussed later, there is no rush.” Huang Rong glanced sidelong at Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, thinking: The antidote is on these two. You rashly promise it to the enemy, without knowing whether they will give it or not. The National Preceptor said: “Poisoned hidden weapons, do you think your school has a monopoly on them under heaven? You used poisoned needles to wound my disciple. I can just as easily drive a few poisoned nails into your daughter. You give us the antidote, and we will treat her. As for releasing her, it will not be so simple.” Huang Rong saw that her daughter’s expression was normal. She appeared to be uninjured. But the bond between mother and daughter was deep, and her heart was thrown into turmoil. As the saying goes, “Concern breeds confusion”, though her resourcefulness was unmatched, at this moment she could think of no plan at all.

She watched as the waiters streamed back and forth, delivering dishes and wine to the National Preceptor’s table. The National Preceptor and his men ate and drank with abandon, laughing and talking loudly. Guo Fu sat motionless, gazing at her mother, never once lifting her chopsticks. Huang Rong felt as though a knife were carving into her heart. The agitation stirred her neili, and suddenly a dull pain began to spread through her abdomen.

When Jinlun Guoshi had finished his meal, he rose and said: “Chief Huang, come along with us.” Huang Rong was momentarily stunned, then immediately understood. He not only intended to hold her daughter captive, he meant to take her as well. She was alone now, with only the Wu brothers at her side, and certainly no match for him. Her face drained of colour. The National Preceptor added: “Chief Huang, you need not be afraid. You are a person of great standing in the jianghu of the Central Plains, and we will of course treat you with courtesy. Once the matter of the Alliance Chief is settled, we will immediately escort you back south with full honours.” The moment he had seen Huang Rong on the upper floor, he had known he had encountered a golden opportunity. If he could capture her, the martial artists of the Central Plains would have no choice but to submit. That would be a hundred times more valuable than seizing Guo Fu, truly, a heaven-sent windfall delivered to his door. Huang Rong had been so preoccupied with her daughter that this thought had not even occurred to her.

The Wu brothers saw their master’s wife in distress. Though they knew they were no match for the enemy, they could not shrink from stepping forward. Both drew their longswords and placed themselves protectively before her. Huang Rong said in a low voice: “Quick, jump through the window and flee. Go find your teacher for help.” The Wu brothers looked at her, then at Guo Fu. Only then did they dash toward the window.

Huang Rong cursed inwardly: Idiots! How can you afford to hesitate at a moment like this? And indeed, that brief delay had already cost them their chance. Jinlun Guoshi’s long arms shot out and seized both brothers by the backs of their collars, lifting them like an eagle snatching chicks. The Wu brothers thrust their swords backward in desperation, but the National Preceptor did not even bother to dodge. With a subtle twist of his hands, Wu Dunru’s sword stabbed toward his younger brother, while Wu Xiuwen’s sword stabbed toward his elder brother. The two were horrified and hastily released their weapons. With two clangs, both swords struck the floor, and only then did they avoid wounding each other. The National Preceptor’s neili surged forth, sealing their acupoints. With a shake of his arms, he hurled them a dozen feet away. “Follow Lord Buddha⁴⁵ obediently now,” he sneered.

The National Preceptor turned to Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü. “If you two are not travelling with Chief Huang, then please go your own way. In the future, simply refrain from obstructing my affairs. Both of you possess remarkable martial arts, take good care of yourselves, train for another ten or twenty years, and you will have no rivals under heaven.” He was not showing them particular favour. Rather, he knew that although Huang Rong, Xiaolongnü, and Yang Guo were each inferior to him in martial arts, if the three of them joined forces, they would be difficult to handle. Even if he prevailed, he might not necessarily capture Huang Rong. Thus he deliberately sought to divide them, seizing the main prize while discarding the branches. He did not know that Huang Rong’s pregnancy prevented her from fighting. He merely estimated that her Dog-Beating Staff Technique⁴⁶ was exceedingly formidable and that she was a dangerous opponent.

Xiaolongnü said: “Guoer, let us go. This old monk is very formidable. We cannot defeat him.” Her heart was filled with only one desire, to return to the Ancient Tomb as soon as possible and spend her life with Yang Guo. She cared nothing at all for the grudges and battles of the world. Seeing the National Preceptor, she felt afraid and spoke her mind without reservation. Yang Guo agreed and rose, walking toward the staircase. But then he thought, Once we return to the Ancient Tomb, I will probably never see Auntie Guo again. He could not help but look back at her.

He saw her jade-like face pale and drawn, her left hand pressed against her lower abdomen, clearly she was enduring pain in silence. Yang Guo immediately thought, Uncle Guo and Auntie Guo forbid Gugu and me from being together, that may be meddlesome, but they have never meant me any harm. Now Auntie Guo is in trouble. How can I simply walk away? But the enemy is far too strong. Even if Gugu and I fight together, we are absolutely no match for this monk. Since I cannot save Auntie Guo anyway, why throw away our lives as well? Better to go straight to Uncle Guo and have him lead a rescue party. At this thought, he gave Huang Rong a meaningful look. Huang Rong understood that he intended to go and summon help, and she felt slightly relieved. Ever so faintly, she nodded.

Yang Guo took Xiaolongnü’s hand and started down the stairs. He saw a Mongol warrior stride up to Huang Rong and bark gruffly: “Move! What are you waiting for?” He reached out to grab her arm as though she were a common prisoner.

Huang Rong had been Chief of the Beggars’ Gang⁴⁷ for over ten years. Her status in the jianghu was of the highest honour. Though she now found herself in dire straits, how could she suffer the indignity of this coarse lout? Seeing his large, dark, hairy hand reaching toward her, she flicked her sleeve. The fabric covered his wrist, and in the same motion she seized and flung him. With a whoosh, the Mongol warrior’s bulky frame sailed out the restaurant window and crashed into the street, left half dead. Huang Rong, fastidious by nature, had no wish for her hand to touch his wrist, so she had first covered it with her sleeve before throwing him through the fabric.

The patrons on the upper floor had paid little attention when the parties had been speaking civilly, but at this sudden outbreak of violence, chaos erupted.

Jinlun Guoshi gave a cold laugh. “Chief Huang lives up to her reputation.” Imitating the Mongol warrior’s manner, he strode forward and reached out in exactly the same way to grab her. Huang Rong knew he was deliberately showing off his skill, the same move, but she could no more throw him than she could fly. She had no choice but to retreat a step.

Yang Guo had already descended several stairs when he saw the conflict erupt. Huang Rong was about to be humiliated. His sense of chivalry⁴⁸ blazed up, and he forgot all concerns of life and death. He flew back, snatched up the sword Wu Dunru had dropped, and thrust it fiercely at the National Preceptor’s back. “Chief Huang is ill!” he shouted. “How can you press your advantage against a sick person?”

The National Preceptor heard the whistle of metal cleaving the air behind him but did not even turn his head. He flipped his fingers back and struck the flat of the blade. With a clang, Yang Guo felt his right arm go numb from the impact. The tip of his sword drooped straight down, and he hurriedly leaped away.

The National Preceptor turned around. “Young man, leave quickly,” he said. “You are young, and your martial arts are not weak. Your future achievements will far surpass mine. But at this moment, you are no match for me. Why throw your life away by forcing yourself into this?” These words mixed flattery with menace, praising Yang Guo even as they threatened him. His golden wheel had been knocked from his grasp by Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, costing him the Alliance Chief position that had been within his reach. In his heart, he hated the two of them bitterly. But now, weighing priorities, he considered capturing Huang Rong the paramount objective and had no wish to make additional enemies. He only hoped Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü would withdraw from this conflict. He could always settle scores with these two youngsters later. Having dominated the great desert, he was a man of considerable strategic acumen, his martial prowess was not his only strength.

These words, neither arrogant nor servile, were indeed no empty boast. Yang Guo, young as he was, could not help feeling pleased to hear that his future achievements would surpass the National Preceptor’s. He laughed and said: “No need for modesty, Great Monk. To reach your level of skill is no easy thing. This Chief Huang raised me from childhood, you had best not trouble her. Her martial arts are astonishingly formidable, and she would most likely defeat you. If she were not ill today, you could not match her. If you doubt it, wait until she recovers and compete against her then. How about that?” He assumed the National Preceptor prided himself on his martial arts and might, thus goaded, cease harassing Huang Rong.

But the National Preceptor had only been courteous to Yang Guo because he had feared the combined force of Huang Rong, Xiaolongnü, and Yang Guo. Now, hearing these words, he studied Huang Rong’s face and indeed saw that she looked haggard, her illness was far from mild. With just these two youngsters, he thought, what does Jinlun Guoshi have to fear? He gave a cold laugh and moved to block the staircase. “Then you shall stay as well,” he said.

Xiaolongnü stood on the stairs, separated from Yang Guo by the National Preceptor. This displeased her. “Monk, move aside,” she said. “Let him come down.” The National Preceptor’s brows shot up. He launched a “Splitting the Stele with One Palm”⁴⁹ downward with explosive force. He was naturally possessed of great strength, and this attack, delivered from the higher ground, was especially ferocious. Xiaolongnü dared not meet it head-on. Worried about Yang Guo on the upper floor, rather than leaping down to the bottom of the stairs, she pushed off with both feet and, using her superlative lightness skill,⁵⁰ brushed past the enemy’s side to stand shoulder to shoulder with Yang Guo. The National Preceptor had thrown an elbow strike backward as she passed his left flank, but it struck nothing. He could not help but admire the agility of her movement. Yang Guo picked up the sword Wu Xiuwen had dropped and placed it in her hand. “Gugu,” he said, “this monk has no manners. Let us fight him.”

With a ringing clash, the National Preceptor drew a wheel from beneath his robes. It was the same size as the golden wheel he had used before, but its colour was a dull, deep black, forged of refined iron, and also inscribed with the sacred mantras of the Vajrayana⁵¹ sect. He possessed five wheels in total: gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead. When facing a truly formidable opponent, he could deploy all five simultaneously. But in the past, he had used only the single golden wheel and already defeated countless powerful enemies, earning him the title “Golden Wheel National Preceptor.” The silver, copper, iron, and lead wheels had never been used. In truth, given his level of martial attainment, he ought to have been called the “Five-Wheel National Preceptor.” During the contest at Lu Village, Yang Guo had knocked the golden wheel from his grasp with the vajra⁵² pestle. Now he brought out the iron wheel instead. “Chief Huang,” he said, “will you join in as well?” Though he could see the pallor of illness on Huang Rong’s face, he still dreaded her martial prowess. By addressing her as “Chief Huang,” he was reminding her that she was the leader of a great gang, to join forces with others against a single opponent would tarnish the dignity of her position.

Yang Guo called out: “Chief Huang is going home. She has no time for your nonsense.” He turned to Huang Rong and said: “Auntie Guo, take Sister Fu and go.” He had already made up his mind: he and Xiaolongnü would combine their strength to hold off the enemy. They could not win, but if they could resist for a while and then find a way to escape, they would probably manage it. Fortunately, this was no contest of martial superiority, as long as they could slip free of the demon’s clutches, what did it matter if they fled in utter disarray? He thrust his sword at the National Preceptor. Xiaolongnü, seeing him use the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra techniques, followed with a flanking slash of her own. Having no plan of her own, she simply joined the fight because Yang Guo was fighting this monk.

Jinlun Guoshi whirled his iron wheel, deflecting both swords. He found the restaurant too cluttered with tables and chairs to move freely, so as he fought, he kicked the furniture aside. Yang Guo thought, If we match strength against strength, we will certainly lose. Only by entangling him can we hold out for a while. Seeing the National Preceptor kick away the tables and chairs, Yang Guo pushed them back, placing them between the combatants. Both he and Xiaolongnü excelled at lightness skills. They darted and wove, never engaging the enemy directly, and occasionally hurled wine jugs or flung plates of food, until the upper floor was awash in spilled wine, sauce, and broth.

In the midst of this chaos, Huang Rong had seized the opportunity to pull Guo Fu to safety. Da’erba,⁵³ still dazed from Yang Guo’s “Soul-Shifting Art,”⁵⁴ drifted in and out of consciousness. Huo Dou was gravely wounded by poison. The remaining Mongol warriors were of negligible skill, how could they stop Huang Rong? Yang Guo shouted: “Auntie Guo, go quickly!” But Huang Rong saw the ferocity of the National Preceptor’s attacks. Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü were giving everything they had, yet barely managing to hold on. Their present strategy of chaotic, unorthodox harassment could only delay the enemy for a time. If he found an opening and struck with lethal force, these two young people would have no chance of survival. She thought, He is risking his life to save me. How can I think only of myself and abandon him? After releasing the Wu brothers’ acupoints, she stood at the head of the stairs, watching the battle in silence.

The Wu brothers, however, urged repeatedly: “Master’s wife, let us leave first. You are unwell, you must take care of yourself.” Huang Rong ignored them at first, but as their urging grew more insistent, she said angrily: “If a person does not speak of ‘chivalry and righteousness,’⁴⁸ what is the use of training in martial arts? What is the use of living at all? This Yang Guo surpasses you a hundred times over. Hmph. You two had best think on that carefully.” The Wu brothers had meant well, but receiving this scolding from their master’s wife, they stood awkwardly, feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

Guo Fu picked up a broken table leg from the floor and cried: “Brothers Wu, let us all attack together!” Huang Rong pulled her back. “With your meagre skills, do you want to throw your life away?” Guo Fu pouted in disbelief. She had watched Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü fight and had seen nothing particularly remarkable or profound in their moves. Sometimes their postures were graceful, but their sword strokes were never fierce or lethal.

Each time the National Preceptor pursued, the overturned tables and chairs blocked his path, while Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, agile and elusive, flitted back and forth in evasive combat. An idea struck him. He suddenly drove force into his feet. With a series of loud cracks, the fallen tables and chairs shattered beneath his tread. As his hands worked the iron wheel in attack and defence, his feet employed the “Thousand-Catty Anchor”⁵⁵ technique. Wherever his feet landed, the furniture broke. After several more exchanges, the floor was covered with a layer of splintered wood, and the three combatants fought atop the debris. No more chairs or tables remained to hinder movement.

Now the National Preceptor strode back and forth with great sweeping steps, his iron wheel clanging as it swung. His arms opened and closed in wide arcs, launching fierce attacks against the two of them. Without the furniture to obstruct them, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü had no choice but to defend with genuine skill. The National Preceptor pressed forward with three successive attacks. Yang Guo had trained in the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, which emphasised speed, not power, and his arms lacked the strength to match. As he parried, his arms ached dully from the force. The National Preceptor, pressing his advantage, launched a fourth strike, a crushing downward blow. Before the iron wheel even arrived, the wind of its passage was fierce and terrifying. Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü thrust both swords upward together, their tips meeting the wheel. Only by combining the force of two swords could they block this one attack, but both blades were bent by the impact.

Together, they exerted all their strength to force the wheel back. Yang Guo thrust his longsword at the enemy’s upper body while Xiaolongnü slashed horizontally at his left leg. The National Preceptor kicked at Xiaolongnü’s wrist while angling his wheel to strike Yang Guo’s neck. Yang Guo ducked and crouched, evading the wheel. But then, with shocking suddenness, the National Preceptor’s right hand loosened, the iron wheel plunged toward Yang Guo’s head, and with both hands freed, he simultaneously grabbed at Xiaolongnü’s shoulders. In that split second, both of them faced lethal danger. Huang Rong cried out and moved to intervene, but she saw Yang Guo’s body shoot sideways, skimming the ground. Before he had even landed, his sword was already thrusting at the National Preceptor’s back. This move served dual purposes, it resolved his own peril while using the strategy of “besieging Wei to rescue Zhao”⁵⁶ to prevent the National Preceptor from attacking Xiaolongnü. The move was called “Wild Goose Flies Slantwise”⁵⁷ and belonged to the Quanzhen Swordplay.

The National Preceptor let out a surprised grunt. Before the iron wheel could hit the ground, he hooked it with the instep of his right foot and sent it spinning upward with a loud clatter, smashing toward Yang Guo’s head. In that moment of crisis, Yang Guo had used a Quanzhen sword move to remarkable effect. Now he followed with another Quanzhen technique. “White Rainbow Spans the Heavens”⁵⁸, spinning his sword horizontally to strike the wheel. Wheel against sword, the flat strike should have been useless, but the rotation was perfectly timed, applying the martial principle of “four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds.”⁵⁹ The wheel’s trajectory shifted and flew back toward the National Preceptor’s own head. Guo Fu, watching from the side, clapped her hands in delight.

The National Preceptor had dared to release his weapon and send it flying at his opponent because he had assumed the enemy would be unable to receive it. Had the opponent struck the flying wheel with any weapon, no matter how heavy the steel whip or great blade, it would certainly have been knocked from their grasp. How could he have imagined that Yang Guo possessed the skill to deflect the wheel? Enraged, he caught the iron wheel, secretly channelled his energy, and launched it again. This time the force was so great that the wheel spun in eerie silence, it was moving too fast for the internal balls to strike against each other. Yang Guo had deflected the wheel the first time by unconsciously applying the principles of the Nine Yin Manual.⁶⁰ Now, striking at it again with his sword, a loud clang rang out and the blade was jolted from his grip. The National Preceptor immediately followed with a crushing “Great Stele-Smashing Hand”⁶¹ strike. Yang Guo’s Nine Yin Manual techniques were not yet fully practised, this time his application of force had been off.

Xiaolongnü saw Yang Guo in danger. With a subtle sway of her slender waist, she thrust her sword in a fierce attack, the move was not only lethally sharp but also gracefully elegant, ethereally beautiful. She had already begun using the mutual-protection techniques from the seventh section of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra. Huang Rong and her daughter, watching, felt their spirits soar. “Excellent!” they cried together.

The National Preceptor withdrew his palm and leaped, catching the wheel to deflect the sword’s edge. Yang Guo seized the chance to recover his sword. He had just barely escaped death. But in moments of crisis, the mind grows especially sharp. Suddenly it came to him: When Gugu and I both use the Jade Maiden Swordplay, we cannot hold him off. But when I use Quanzhen Swordplay and she uses Jade Maiden Swordplay, we turn danger into safety. Is this how the final sections of the Heart Sutra are meant to be used? He shouted: “Gugu, ‘Wandering to the Ends of the Earth’!”⁶² and thrust his sword out at an angle. Without pausing to think, Xiaolongnü followed with the “Wandering to the Ends of the Earth” from the Heart Sutra, slashing her sword straight down. The two moves shared the same name but were utterly different in execution, one a deadly stroke of Quanzhen Swordplay, the other a perilous gambit of the Jade Maiden Swordplay. Twin swords merged as one, and their combined power swelled to terrifying proportions. The National Preceptor could not block both blades at once and retreated frantically. Shhk, shhk, both swords found their mark. Fortunately, he had dodged just in time. The blades only grazed past his ribs, slicing his robes. But cold sweat already drenched his back.

The National Preceptor retreated two more hurried steps to escape the deadly edge. He heard Yang Guo call: “‘Beneath the Flowers, Before the Moon’!”⁶³, a strike descending from above, evoking the image of an icy wheel crossing the sky, its clear light spreading across the earth. Xiaolongnü’s sword quivered like a fresh blossom swaying in the breeze, slashing back and forth until the National Preceptor was utterly dazzled, completely unable to tell where her next attack would come from. He could only leap back again to evade. Yang Guo called: “‘Drinking Wine in Quiet Leisure’!”⁶⁴ He raised his sword hilt, the tip pointing downward like a wine vessel being tilted to pour. Xiaolongnü’s sword tip turned upward, aimed at her own cherry lips as though she were raising a cup to drink.

Jinlun Guoshi watched the two of them produce increasingly bizarre moves, each perfectly coordinated with the other, every opening instantly covered by the partner, lethal combinations emerging one after another. The longer he fought, the more alarmed he became. How vast the world is, he thought to himself. Truly, capable people emerge in every generation. Sword techniques this unimaginable, how could I ever have dreamed of them in Mongolia? Ah! I have been a frog at the bottom of a well,⁶⁵ underestimating the heroes of the world. His spirit faltered, and the signs of defeat grew more pronounced.

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü had attempted this sword art several times without success. Now, facing mortal danger, their hearts were filled with tender concern for each other. Neither cared for their own safety, each thought only of saving the other first. This was precisely the spirit the sword art was designed for. Every move in this sword art contained an allusion to a romantic encounter: “Playing the Zither and Flute,”⁶⁶ “Sweeping Snow to Brew Tea,”⁶⁷ “Playing Chess Beneath the Pines,”⁶⁸ “Strolling with Cranes by the Pond”⁶⁹, all were scenes shared between a man and a woman, exuding an indescribable elegance and charm. Lin Chaoying, disappointed in love, had withered away in the Ancient Tomb. She was accomplished in both literary and martial arts, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, there was nothing she could not do. In the end, she poured her entire life’s learning into this martial art. When she created it, she was merely giving expression to her own heart. How could she have foreseen that decades later, a pair of lovers would use it to overcome a powerful enemy?

When Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü had first used the sword art, they had not yet fully grasped its subtleties, but as the battle progressed, they grew more and more adept. If the man and woman using this sword art were not lovers, many of its exquisite refinements would be impossible to appreciate. If their hearts could not communicate, then in their combined swordplay they would be too polite if friends, too protective and dependent if elder and junior. If a married couple used it together, it would be wonderful indeed, but the nuances of tender affection, bashful shyness, the push and pull of closeness and distance, the mingled hope and fear, all these would be missing a layer. At this moment, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü were profoundly devoted to each other, yet not yet bound in marriage, and deep in their hearts they sensed the many hardships that lay ahead. Their feelings were a mixture of joy and sorrow, sweetness and bitterness. This state of heart gradually came to resonate with the spirit in which Lin Chaoying had created the “Pure-Hearted Jade Maiden Sword.”⁷⁰

Huang Rong, watching from the sidelines, saw the blush rising on Xiaolongnü’s cheeks, her shy, bashful manner. Yang Guo kept stealing glances at her, protective and devoted. Though they fought a powerful enemy together, they radiated the joy of mutual affection, the intensity of deep love. Huang Rong could not help but feel secretly alarmed, and at the same time, caught up in their emotion, she found herself recalling the early days of her own romance with Guo Jing. Amid the clashing and killing that filled the restaurant, an undercurrent of boundless tenderness and secret passion flowed.

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü fought with hearts in silent harmony. Jinlun Guoshi found them ever harder to resist, deeply regretting that he had earlier smashed all the tables and chairs. Had the furniture still been there to obstruct them, the enemy’s attacks could not have been so fierce. He could see that if the fight continued, he would surely lose his life. Step by step, he retreated toward the staircase, then descended step by step. Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü pressed their attack from above, on the verge of driving him out. Huang Rong called: “In rooting out evil, be thorough! Guoer, do not let him escape!” She could see that Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü’s victory over the National Preceptor had depended entirely on a marvellous sword art, eight-tenths of it was luck. If they let him go today, this man of profound martial learning would return home and rack his brains until he found a way to counter the sword art, making him far harder to eliminate in the future.

Yang Guo acknowledged her command and pressed his attack with lethal intensity: “‘Tending Chrysanthemums in a Small Garden,’”⁷¹ “‘Night Talk by the Latticed Window,’”⁷² “‘Exchanging Couplets in the Willow Shade,’”⁷³ “‘Approaching the Pond Through the Bamboo Curtain’”⁷⁴, one move after another flowed forth. The National Preceptor could barely defend himself, let alone counterattack.

Yang Guo had intended to follow Huang Rong’s instructions and seize the opportunity to kill the National Preceptor. But he did not know that when Lin Chaoying had created this sword art, she had meant it for her own amusement and the expression of her heart, it was never intended to wound or kill. At that time, her heart had been filled with tender feelings, and so although the sword art was formidable, not a single move was designed to take a life. Now, though Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü had driven the National Preceptor into frantic disarray, they could not deliver a fatal blow.

The National Preceptor did not understand the sword art’s origins. Seeing the strange moves pour forth in endless succession, he assumed that the truly lethal techniques had not yet been deployed, and that once the two used them, his old life would be forfeit. In his desperation, an idea came to him. He drove force into his feet: every step he descended, he shattered one stair behind him. His massive frame blocked the staircase, and Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü could not press forward. By the time three stairs had been destroyed, their swords could no longer reach him. The National Preceptor raised his iron wheel. “Today I have witnessed the martial arts of the Central Plains,” he said. “This old monk is deeply impressed. What is the name of this sword art of yours?” Yang Guo said with a straight face: “Among the martial arts of the Central Plains, the foremost are the Dog-Beating Staff Technique and the Donkey-Stabbing Sword Art. This sword art of ours is precisely the Donkey-Stabbing Sword Art.” The National Preceptor was baffled. “Donkey-Stabbing Sword Art?” Yang Guo said: “Yes, the art of stabbing a bald donkey.”⁷⁵ Only then did the National Preceptor realise he was being cursed in a roundabout way. Enraged, he bellowed: “Insolent brat! One day you will learn the methods of the Golden Wheel National Preceptor.” His iron wheel clanged as he swung it, and he strode away.

His figure receded swiftly, vanishing around the corner in a few rapid flickers. Yang Guo knew pursuit would be futile. He turned to find Da’erba supporting Huo Dou, both of them pale-faced and rooted to the spot. Da’erba said: “Elder Brother, will you kill me or not?” Yang Guo took pity on them and said to Huang Rong: “Auntie Guo, shall we let them go?” Huang Rong nodded. Yang Guo also noticed Huo Dou’s listless, haggard appearance. He took a small flask of Jade Bee honey⁷⁶ from his bosom, pointed at Huo Dou, made a gesture of taking medicine, and handed it to Da’erba. Da’erba was overjoyed. He and Huo Dou exchanged a few rapid words. Huo Dou produced a packet of medicinal powder and gave it to Yang Guo. “That gentleman who used the brush was struck by my poisoned nail,” he said. “This is the antidote.”

Da’erba pressed his palms together and bowed to Yang Guo. “Elder Brother, thank you,” he said. Yang Guo also pressed his palms together in return and, with a mischievous grin, mimicked his Mongolian: “Elder Brother, thank you.” Da’erba was baffled. Why is Elder Brother calling me Elder Brother? Then, after a moment’s thought, he understood: He has been reincarnated and now yields the senior position to me, he will not contend with me for the title of Eldest Brother. His gratitude deepened. He bowed deeply to Yang Guo, scooped up Huo Dou with his left arm, and departed with the rest of the Mongol warriors.

Yang Guo handed the antidote to Huang Rong, then bowed deeply. “Auntie Guo, your nephew takes his leave. May you and Uncle Guo take good care of yourselves.” The thought that after this parting they would never meet again weighed heavily on his heart. Huang Rong asked: “Where are you going?” Yang Guo said: “Gugu and I will go to some hidden place where no one can find us, and live in seclusion, never to emerge again, so as not to bring disgrace upon your and Uncle Guo’s reputations.”

Huang Rong thought to herself, Today he risked his life to save me and Fu’er, the debt of gratitude is not small. Seeing him sinking into depravity, how can I not try to save him? She said: “There is no need to rush off this very moment. We are all exhausted today. Let us find an inn and rest for the night. Tomorrow we can part ways, there will be time enough.” Seeing the sincerity in her manner, Yang Guo could not refuse and agreed.

Huang Rong took out silver to compensate the restaurant for the damage, then found an inn in the town to rest. That evening, after supper, she sent Guo Fu away to talk with the Wu brothers and called Xiaolongnü into her room. “Little Sister,” she said, “I have something to give you.” Xiaolongnü said: “What are you giving me?”

Huang Rong drew her close and took out a comb to arrange her hair. She saw that Xiaolongnü’s black tresses fell past her shoulders, light, soft, glossy, and utterly lovely. Carefully, she wound the silken strands into place and removed a golden hair clasp from her own head. “Little Sister,” she said, “let me put this on you.” The clasp was exquisitely crafted, a single rose stem wrought in gold, its branches curling back upon themselves, with a rosebud just beginning to bloom at the join. Huang Yaoshi⁷⁷ had collected the world’s rarest treasures, yet she had chosen this particular clasp, its artistry was beyond imagination. Xiaolongnü had never worn any kind of ornament. A simple thornwood hairpin⁷⁸ was all she ever used to bind her hair. Though she could see the golden clasp was finely made, she paid it little mind, merely murmuring a casual thanks. Huang Rong placed it in her hair, then began chatting with her idly.

After talking for a while, Huang Rong sensed her utter innocence, she understood nothing of the ways of the world. In the candlelight, her face was delicately beautiful, pure and transcendent. If not for the barrier of teacher and disciple, she and Yang Guo would indeed make a perfect pair. Huang Rong asked: “Little Sister, in your heart, you are very fond of Guoer, are you not?” Xiaolongnü gave a gentle smile. “Yes. Why do all of you forbid him from being with me?”

Huang Rong was taken aback. She remembered her own youth, when her father had refused to consent to her marriage to Guo Jing, and the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan⁷⁹ had called her a “little witch.” Only after countless twists and turns had she and Guo Jing finally become husband and wife. Now, before her very eyes, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü truly loved each other, so why was she the one standing in their way? But the bond of teacher and disciple was established and could not be undone. If they engaged in romantic relations between man and woman, it would violate the most fundamental principles of human relationships. What face would they have before the heroes of the world? She sighed and said: “Little Sister, there are many things in this world that you do not understand. If you and Guoer become husband and wife, others will look down on you for the rest of your lives.” Xiaolongnü smiled faintly. “If others look down on me, what does it matter?”

Huang Rong was startled again. She felt that this statement was entirely in harmony with her own father’s temperament, the attitude of one who follows her own path, treating the entire world as though it did not exist. At this thought, she could not help but nod. She reflected that a person of such transcendent quality as Xiaolongnü should indeed not be bound by worldly conventions. But then her thoughts turned to her husband’s deep love and concern for Yang Guo. Regardless of whether Yang Guo became their son-in-law, Guo Jing always wished for him to be of flawless character. So she said: “And what about Guoer? Others will look down on him too.” Xiaolongnü said: “He and I will spend our lives together in a place where no one can see us, happy and content. Why should we care about others?” Huang Rong asked: “What place is this, where no one can see you?” Xiaolongnü said: “It is a great, great Ancient Tomb. I have always lived inside it.” Huang Rong was stunned. “You mean the two of you will live inside an Ancient Tomb for the rest of your lives, never coming out?”

Xiaolongnü was very happy. She stood up and walked back and forth in the room. “Yes,” she said. “Why would we come out? People outside are all bad.” Huang Rong said: “Guoer has wandered all over the outside world since he was little. If he is shut up inside a tomb forever, will he not grow bored and restless?” Xiaolongnü laughed. “With me to keep him company, how could he be bored?” Huang Rong sighed. “At first, of course he will not be bored. But after many years, he will start thinking about the bright and colourful world outside. If he can never come out, he will grow troubled.”

Xiaolongnü had been brimming with joy, but hearing these words, her heart immediately sank. “I am going to ask Guoer,” she said. “I will not talk to you anymore.” And she walked out of the room.

Huang Rong saw a shadow suddenly pass across her beautiful face. Her own words had wounded the heart of an innocent young woman, and she immediately felt regret. But then she reflected that she had seen much more of life than these two young people with their wishful thinking. Though her honest counsel might be unpleasant to hear, it was spoken with the deepest concern. She thought, I wonder what Guoer will say? Quietly, she crept to the window of Yang Guo’s room to listen to their conversation.

She heard Xiaolongnü ask: “Guoer, if you spend your whole life with me, will you grow troubled? Will you grow weary?” Yang Guo said: “Why do you ask me this again? You know I could never feel anything but endless joy. The two of us, until we are old, until our hair turns white and our teeth fall out, we will still stay together in happiness, never parting.” These words were spoken with sincere emotion, deeply earnest. Hearing them, Xiaolongnü was moved beyond words. For a long while she was lost in a daze. Then she said: “Yes. I feel the same way.” She took a rope from her pouch and stretched it across the room. “Time to sleep,” she said. Yang Guo said: “Auntie Guo said that tonight you should share a room with her and Sister Fu, and I should share a room with the Wu brothers.” Xiaolongnü said: “No! Why should those two men keep you company? I want to sleep together with you.” She raised her hand and extinguished the oil lamp.

Huang Rong, listening outside the window, was horrified. So the two of them, as teacher and disciple, have indeed done that shameful thing. That Daoist Zhao Zhijing was not lying.

She thought that since the two young people were sharing a bed, it would not be proper for her to eavesdrop outside. She was about to leave when she suddenly saw a flash of white inside the room, someone was suspended horizontally in mid-air, swaying slightly before becoming still. Greatly puzzled, Huang Rong peered through the moonlight streaming into the room. She saw Xiaolongnü lying horizontally upon a rope, while Yang Guo slept on the brick bed. Though the two shared a room, they maintained perfect propriety. Huang Rong stood quietly in the courtyard, feeling that the conduct of these two was utterly beyond ordinary people, whether it was right or wrong, she truly could not say.

She stood there in silence for a long while, and was just about to return to her room to sleep when she heard footsteps. Guo Fu and the Wu brothers were returning from outside. Huang Rong said: “Dun’er, Xiu’er, you two brothers get another room. Do not share a room with Brother Yang.” The Wu brothers agreed. Guo Fu asked: “Mother, why?” Huang Rong said: “It is none of your concern.” Wu Xiuwen laughed. “I know why. Those two, neither teacher nor disciple, neither proper man nor woman, a pair of dogs sharing a room.” Huang Rong’s face hardened. “Xiu’er, what filthy words are you speaking?” Wu Dunru said: “Master’s wife, you are too kind. Why bother with someone like him? I will never speak to him again.” Guo Fu said: “Today the two of them saved us. That was a great kindness.” Wu Xiuwen said: “Hmph. I would rather have been killed by the Golden Wheel National Preceptor than receive kindness from such beasts.” Huang Rong was displeased. “Enough talk,” she said. “Go to sleep.”

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü heard every word through the window. Yang Guo, who had never gotten along with the Wu brothers since childhood, merely smiled and paid no heed. But Xiaolongnü brooded over it in her heart. Why, she wondered, because Guoer and I are together, does he become a beast, a dog? She thought and thought but could not understand. In the middle of the night, she woke Yang Guo and asked: “Guoer, there is something you must answer me truthfully. If you and I live together in the Ancient Tomb, after many years have passed, will you start thinking about the bright and colourful world outside?” Yang Guo was startled and did not answer for a long while. Xiaolongnü asked further: “If you cannot come out, will you grow troubled? Even if your love for me never changes, if we stay in the Ancient Tomb for a very long time, will you grow weary?”

Yang Guo found these questions extremely difficult to answer. At this moment, he thought that to spend his life with Xiaolongnü would be happiness surpassing even the immortals. But in that cold, pitch-black Ancient Tomb, even if he did not grow tired of it in ten years, in twenty years, what about in thirty years? Forty years? It would be easy enough to casually say “I will never grow weary,” but he had always been utterly sincere with Xiaolongnü and had never spoken a single false word. After a long silence, he said: “Gugu, if we grow weary, if we grow tired of it, then we will simply come out together.”

Xiaolongnü murmured an acknowledgement and said no more. She thought to herself, What Madam Guo said was not a lie. In the end, he will grow weary and want to leave the Tomb. Then everyone will look down on him. What joy will there be in his life? He and I are together, but I do not understand why others would despise him for it. It must be that I am a bad woman. I like him, I love him. I would give my life for him. But if being with me only makes him unhappy, then he would be better off not marrying me. That night on the peak of Mount Zhongnan, when he refused to agree to make me his wife, it must have been for this reason. She turned these thoughts over and over in her mind for a long time. Yang Guo’s breathing was steady and even. He was deep in sleep. Quietly, she slipped off the rope and walked to the edge of the brick bed. She gazed at his handsome face, her heart in turmoil, her emotions tangled beyond unravelling. Unable to help herself, tears began to fall.

The next morning, when Yang Guo awoke, he felt that his shoulder was wet. Slightly puzzled, he saw that Xiaolongnü was not in the room. He sat up and noticed twelve tiny characters scratched into the tabletop with a golden needle:

“Take good care of yourself. When you remember me, do not be sad.”

Yang Guo’s mind plunged into chaos. He sat frozen in place, utterly lost. On the tabletop, teardrops still glistened, not yet dry, the dampness on his shoulder must also have been from her tears. His wits scattered, he pushed open the window and leaped out. “Gugu! Gugu!” he cried.

The inn attendant came up to attend to him. Yang Guo asked when the white-robed young woman had departed and in which direction she had gone. The attendant gaped, unable to answer. Yang Guo knew that this moment, once lost, might never be recovered. If he could not find her today, he might never see her again. He rushed to the stables, led out the lean horse, and vaulted into the saddle. Guo Fu was just emerging from her room. “Where are you going?” she called. Yang Guo heard but did not listen. He urged the horse northward along the main road at a furious gallop, and before long he had covered several dozen li. All along the way he shouted: “Gugu! Gugu!” But where was any trace of Xiaolongnü?

After racing on for some time, he spotted Jinlun Guoshi and his party riding westward. Seeing him alone on his horse, they were all taken aback. The National Preceptor pulled his reins and rode toward him. Yang Guo was unarmed, to encounter a powerful enemy at such a moment was exceedingly dangerous. But his mind was filled with only one thought, Where has Gugu gone? He gave not the slightest consideration to his own safety. Seeing the National Preceptor ride toward him, he actually turned his horse around and rode to meet him. “Have you seen my teacher?” he asked. The National Preceptor, surprised that he did not flee, was further baffled by this question. He answered without thinking: “No, I have not. Is she not with you?”

Both question and answer had been delivered in haste, without reflection. But in an instant, both men realised the same thing: Yang Guo was alone and no match for the National Preceptor. Their eyes met, and each understood the other’s thoughts. Yang Guo clamped his legs against the horse’s flanks, but the National Preceptor had already reached out to seize him. The lean horse, however, was exceptionally swift, it shot past like a gust of wind. The National Preceptor spurred his mount in pursuit, but Yang Guo and his horse were already far ahead, nearly a li away, beyond the reach of any chase. The National Preceptor reined in his horse, a new thought forming in his mind. With the teacher and disciple separated, what have I to fear? If Chief Huang has not yet gone far, heh heh… He immediately led his followers back the way they had come.

Yang Guo raced madly onward, but within several dozen li, he found not the slightest trace of Xiaolongnü. He felt hot blood surging in his chest. Dizzy and dazed, he nearly fainted on horseback. In his heart he mourned bitterly: Why has Gugu left me again? How have I offended her this time? When she left, she shed many tears, so she cannot be angry with me. Suddenly it came to him: Ah, of course. It must be because I said that staying in the Ancient Tomb for too long would grow wearisome. She thought I did not wish to spend my life with her. At this thought, light broke before his eyes. She has returned to the Ancient Tomb! I will follow her there and stay with her. Unable to help himself, he broke through his tears into laughter and turned several somersaults on horseback.

In his frantic ride, he had lost all sense of direction. Now, steadying himself, he got his bearings, turned the horse around, and headed for Mount Zhongnan. The further he rode, the more convinced he became that his guess was correct. Nine-tenths of his grief and worry fell away. He opened his throat and began singing mountain songs.

After noon, he stopped at a small roadside eatery for a meal. Having finished his noodles, he realised in his haste to leave he had brought no silver. While the owner was not looking, he leaped onto his horse and galloped away, hearing the owner’s distant curses fading behind him, utterly powerless to stop him. He could not help but chuckle to himself. By late afternoon,⁸⁰ he saw ahead a great, dark expanse of forest. From within came the faint sounds of shouting and combat. His heart gave a small jolt. He cocked his ear to listen, it was the voices of Jinlun Guoshi and Guo Fu.

Knowing something was wrong, he dismounted, looped the reins over the bridle, and crept forward through the trees, following the sounds. After advancing about forty feet, he saw, deep within the forest among a jumble of rocks, Huang Rong and her daughter along with the Wu brothers locked in combat against Jinlun Guoshi and his men. The Wu brothers’ faces and clothes were smeared with blood. Huang Rong and Guo Fu’s hair was dishevelled, their expressions desperate. Had the National Preceptor wanted them dead, all four would long since have perished beneath his iron wheel.

Yang Guo watched for a moment and thought, Gugu is not here. If I go to help, I will only throw my life away for nothing. What can I do? Is there any way to save Auntie Guo? Suddenly he saw the National Preceptor swing his wheel down in a crushing blow. Huang Rong lacked the strength to block it and ducked behind a pile of rocks. The National Preceptor circled outside the rocks but could not reach her. Yang Guo was astonished. Looking again, he saw that Guo Fu and the Wu brothers were also using the rocks for shelter. In moments of danger, they needed only to duck behind a rock, and Da’erba and the others would have to make a wide circle to pursue, by which time Guo Fu and the others had already darted behind another pile. Yang Guo was utterly amazed. These ordinary, unremarkable piles of rocks could serve such a purpose, it seemed unbelievable. From the look of things, Huang Rong and her companions were in danger but not yet doomed. They simply could not escape the rock formation.

The National Preceptor had attacked for a long time without success. He had wounded the Wu brothers, but the injuries were not fatal, while one of his own warriors had been killed by Guo Fu’s blade. He could see that the many piles of rocks Huang Rong had arranged held some strange secret. He needed to work out the mystery before he could capture the four of them. Confident in his own intelligence, he reasoned that these people could not possibly escape his grasp. Once he had figured out the layout of the rock formation, he would stride in and seize them with his bare hands, that would truly demonstrate his ability. With a wave of his left hand, he ordered his men to withdraw, and he himself stepped back about ten feet, studying the rock formation in deep contemplation. All military formations and battle arrays, in principle, are based on the transformations of the Supreme Ultimate,⁸¹ the Two Polarities,⁸² the Five Elements,⁸³ and the Eight Trigrams.⁸⁴ The National Preceptor was well-versed in the arcane arts of divination and strategy. He thought that however strange this rock formation might be, it must still follow the principles of the Five Elements’ mutual generation and overcoming. Yet as he stared blankly for a long while, just when he seemed to glimpse a clue, deeper investigation would reveal it to be completely wrong. When the left flank aligned, the right flank shifted. When he understood the formation’s vanguard, its rear guard became impenetrable. He stood there stupefied, filled with astonishment and admiration. He was a man accomplished in both literary and martial arts, truly one of the most outstanding figures of his age. Now, confronted with this puzzle, he was determined to solve it through his own intellect, only then would his heart be satisfied.

The National Preceptor furrowed his brow in thought and remained motionless for a long while. Then suddenly, light blazed in his eyes. His figure flickered, and he plunged into the rock formation, seized Guo Fu by the arm, and retreated swiftly. This happened so suddenly that Huang Rong and the other two were thrown into panic, utterly at a loss. If they left the formation to rescue her, they would surely fall into his deadly trap.

What had happened was that Guo Fu, seeing the enemy standing motionless, had grown careless and failed to maintain the position her mother had assigned her, straying beyond the formation’s protection. The moment the National Preceptor saw an opening, he struck and captured her. He sealed a acupoint beneath her ribs with a finger and laid her on the ground. Deliberately, he left her mute point unsealed so that her cries of anguish would goad Huang Rong into leaving the formation. Guo Fu felt an unbearable numbness and itchiness spreading through her body and could not suppress her moans. Huang Rong knew full well the enemy’s scheme, but hearing her daughter’s pained cries set her heart boiling. She could only bite her lip and endure.

Yang Guo, watching from behind the trees, saw it all clearly. He watched Huang Rong raise her bamboo staff, ready to rush out of the rock pile to save her daughter, and that would be fatal. Without pausing to think, he burst from cover, grabbed Guo Fu by the back of her collar, and hurled himself toward the rock pile. The National Preceptor’s iron wheel flew out, aimed at Yang Guo’s back. Yang Guo was in mid-air, unable to dodge. With all his strength, he shoved Guo Fu toward Huang Rong while simultaneously executing the “Thousand-Catty Anchor”, his body plummeted straight down. With a heavy thud, he landed squarely on the rocks. He heard the clanging wheel whistle past overhead, describe a great arc, and fly back into the National Preceptor’s hand.

Huang Rong caught her daughter, overcome with grief and joy. She saw Yang Guo scramble up from the rocks, his face bruised and swollen, and quickly extended her bamboo staff to guide him into the stone formation.

Jinlun Guoshi saw victory snatched from his grasp, and once again, it was that brat Yang Guo’s doing. Instead of growing angry, he was almost pleased. He gave a cold, thin smile. “Good,” he said. “You have obligingly walked into the net yourself, saves me the trouble of hunting you down later.”

Yang Guo had thrown himself into the rescue out of sheer righteous fury. Only after entering the stone formation did it strike him that this act had likely cost him his life, and that he would never see Xiaolongnü again in this world. He could not help but feel a pang of regret. Huang Rong asked: “Where is your teacher?” Yang Guo said dejectedly: “She suddenly left in the middle of the night. I am searching for her.” Huang Rong guessed that her own words from the previous day had taken effect. She sighed and said: “Guoer, why did you have to do this?” Yang Guo could only manage a bitter smile. Shaking his head, he said: “Auntie Guo, I am foolish. When hot blood surges in my heart, I cannot control myself.” Huang Rong said: “Good child. Your heart is kind, just like your father…” She stopped mid-sentence. Yang Guo’s voice trembled. “Auntie Guo, my father was a bad man, was he not?” Huang Rong lowered her head. “Why do you want to know this?” she said. Suddenly she cried: “Careful, come here!” She pulled him across two piles of rocks, evading a sneak attack from Jinlun Guoshi.

Yang Guo studied the rock formation from front to back and was filled with admiration. “Auntie Guo,” he said, “there is no second person in this world with your brilliance.” Huang Rong had just unsealed her daughter’s acupoint and was massaging her. She smiled but did not answer. Guo Fu said: “What do you know? All of Mother’s skills were taught by Grandfather. Grandfather is the truly formidable one.” Yang Guo had seen the various works of Huang Yaoshi on Peach Blossom Island,⁸⁵ but at that time he had been too young to appreciate their subtleties. Now, reminded by Guo Fu, he nodded repeatedly, his thoughts drifting with reverence. “If only I could one day meet the venerable old gentleman,” he sighed, “I would not have lived this life in vain.”

Suddenly, Jinlun Guoshi charged through two rock piles and attacked again. Yang Guo had no weapon. He hastily snatched up the bamboo staff Huang Rong had dropped on the ground and rushed out to block the assault. With two whistling sweeps of the staff, he deployed the Dog-Beating Staff Technique. The National Preceptor saw the sophistication of his staff work and focused his mind to meet the attack. After several exchanges, both men simultaneously tripped on the rocks and stumbled. The National Preceptor, fearing a trap, leaped out of the formation.

Huang Rong guided Yang Guo back inside and directed the Wu brothers and her daughter to rearrange the rocks, altering the formation. She asked Yang Guo: “Where exactly did you learn this Dog-Beating Staff Technique?” Yang Guo then told the whole story truthfully: how he had encountered Hong Qigong²⁶ on Mount Hua,⁸⁶ how the Northern Beggar and Western Poison⁸⁷ had fought, how Hong Qigong had taught him the staff technique, and finally the circumstances of Hong Qigong’s passing. Hearing of her teacher’s death, Huang Rong was overcome with grief. She threw herself to the ground and wept bitterly, thinking that when her husband Jing learned of their beloved teacher’s passing, he would be devastated beyond measure. Then she thought that, trapped as they were, if her teacher were still by her side, he would surely tell her not to wallow in grief but to rally and face the enemy. At the thought of facing the enemy and breaking free, a sudden idea stirred in her mind. “Guoer,” she said, “you are very clever. Think of a way out of today’s predicament.”

Yang Guo, reading her expression, knew she had already thought of a plan. He pretended ignorance and said: “If you were in good health and fought the National Preceptor together with me, we could certainly win. Or if we could somehow get my teacher here, that would also work.” Huang Rong said: “I cannot recover in a moment, and who knows where your teacher has gone. But I have another idea, and it requires these piles of rocks. This stone formation was taught to me by my father. It contains a hundred transformations. What I have used so far is barely twenty percent.” Yang Guo was both surprised and delighted. He thought of Huang Yaoshi’s learning, which encompassed both heaven and humanity, and marvelled deeply.

Huang Rong said: “The Dog-Beating Staff Technique my teacher passed to you consists only of the external moves, and what you overheard from me in the tree was merely the general outline of the oral formula. Now I will transmit to you the subtle transformations within the staff technique.” Yang Guo was overjoyed. Feigning reluctance, he said: “This probably is not proper. The Dog-Beating Staff Technique has never, by tradition, been taught to outsiders, only to the Chief of the Beggars’ Gang.” Huang Rong rolled her eyes at him. “In front of me, what tricks are you trying to play? My teacher transmitted thirty percent of this staff technique to you. You stole another twenty percent by eavesdropping. Today I will teach you another twenty percent. The remaining thirty percent you must comprehend and grasp through your own intelligence, no one else can transmit it. In this way, firstly, no one person has taught you the complete art, and secondly, the urgency of today’s situation leaves us no choice but to bend the rules.”

Yang Guo dropped to his knees and kowtowed several times. Smiling, he said: “Auntie Guo, when I was little, you promised to teach me martial arts. Teaching me today, it is still not too late.” Huang Rong smiled faintly. “You have been holding a grudge all this time, have you not?” Yang Guo laughed. “I hold no grudge at all. I only always regretted not being able to learn your excellent martial arts.” In a low, soft voice, Huang Rong began explaining the profound mysteries of the staff technique to him.

Outside the rock formation, Jinlun Guoshi watched Yang Guo kowtow to Huang Rong. The two of them chatted and laughed, whispering together, he had no idea what they were plotting, but they seemed entirely confident. Always a cautious man, he knew that though these two were inferior to him in martial arts, they were both cunning and full of tricks. He must be careful not to fall into a trap. He was determined to first fathom the secrets of the formation before deciding on his strategy. Fortunately for them, his hesitation bought time. Without the need to fend off attacks, Huang Rong and Yang Guo completed the transmission of the essentials in under half an hour.

Yang Guo’s natural intelligence and quick comprehension surpassed Lu Youjiao’s⁸⁸ a hundredfold. He could truly be said to hear one point and understand ten, to infer three from one example. Moreover, he had already devoted enormous effort to analysing this staff technique. Points that had previously baffled him no matter how he pondered them now, with Huang Rong’s brief guidance, became instantly and completely clear. From a distance, the National Preceptor watched Huang Rong’s expression, solemn and composed, her lips barely moving, while Yang Guo scratched his ears and rubbed his cheeks, utterly beside himself with joy. He truly could not fathom what was in their gourd,⁸⁹ but he could be certain it boded no good for him.

After Yang Guo had absorbed the essential principles, he asked about a dozen particularly profound points, and Huang Rong explained each one. “That will do,” she said. “That you can ask about these difficulties proves you have already grasped a great deal. Now for the second step, we must lure this monk into the formation and capture him.”

Yang Guo was startled. “Capture him?” Huang Rong said: “What is so difficult about that? At this moment, with you and me working together, our wisdom surpasses his, and our strength now exceeds his as well. I will now explain the mysteries of this rock formation. You will certainly not be able to comprehend them all at once, but fortunately your memory is excellent, you need only memorise the thirty-six transformations by rote.” And so she began to expound them one by one: how the Azure Dragon transformed into the White Tiger, how the Dark Warrior transformed into the Vermilion Bird.⁹⁰ This rock formation was, in fact, derived from Zhuge Liang’s⁹¹ Eight-Triggers Formation.⁹² In years past, Zhuge Liang had used stones to lay out a formation on the banks of the Yangtze. The great general of Eastern Wu, Lu Xun,⁹³ had entered the formation and found himself unable to escape. The formation Huang Rong had now laid out was one that Huang Yaoshi had created following the principles left by the Marquis of Wu.⁹⁴ But it had been set up in great haste and was incomplete. The great enemy had arrived before it could be fully deployed, and the formation had only taken rough shape. Yet even so, it had already frightened Jinlun Guoshi into disarray, making him stare helplessly at the five people before him without daring to attack.

The formation’s thirty-six transformations were intricate and profound beyond measure. Even with Yang Guo’s exceptional intelligence, he could only remember a dozen or so changes at first. Seeing that dusk was falling and the National Preceptor was growing restless, Huang Rong said: “Even these dozen transformations will be more than enough to trap him to death. Go out and lure him into the formation. I will shift the formation and entrap him.”

Yang Guo was delighted. “Auntie Guo,” he said, “if Gugu and I ever come to Peach Blossom Island, would you be willing to teach me this art in its entirety?” Huang Rong pressed her lips together in a smile. The cool breeze stirred her hair, and in the setting sun, her grace was captivating. “If you are willing to come,” she said, “how could I refuse to teach you? You have risked your life to save me and Fu’er twice now, do you think I would still treat you as I did before?”

Hearing this, Yang Guo felt a warmth spread through his chest. At that moment, whatever Huang Rong asked of him, he would have done it even if it meant dying ten thousand deaths. He raised the bamboo staff and strode out of the stone formation. “Rusty old Wheel National Preceptor!” he called. “If you have the guts, come fight me for three hundred rounds!”

Jinlun Guoshi had been worrying that they were plotting some scheme within the stone formation to ambush him. Seeing Yang Guo emerge and challenge him to single combat, he could not have asked for more. His iron wheel clanged as he swept it in a slanting strike. Fearing that Yang Guo would flee back into the formation if the fight went against him, after two attacks he began circling to cut off his retreat, intending to force him far from the rocks. But Yang Guo, armed with the newly learned essence of the Dog-Beating Staff Technique, deployed its eight key principles, tripping, splitting, tangling, poking, picking, luring, sealing, and turning⁹⁵, with subtle variations and divine transformations. The National Preceptor, attacking carelessly in his overconfidence, grew momentarily lax and was poked in the thigh. Though he hastily sealed his acupoint in that critical moment and avoided injury, the pain lingered for a long while.

Having suffered this setback, he no longer dared to be careless. Brandishing his iron wheel, he focused his mind on the fight. Though his opponent was merely a youth of eighteen or nineteen, he treated him as he would a grandmaster of a great school, attacking with respect, defending with rigour. Under this pressure, Yang Guo immediately felt the strain. The Dog-Beating Staff Technique was brilliant, but learned and applied in the same moment, it could not yet be fully mastered. He used the “sealing” principle to block the wheel’s onslaught while shifting his steps, darting east and lunging west. The National Preceptor adjusted his attacks and defence to match the bamboo staff’s movements. Seeing Yang Guo break outward, he thought this was exactly what he wanted and kept retreating, intending to draw him far from the stone formation. Unexpectedly, after retreating a dozen paces, his right foot suddenly caught on a large rock. Without realising it, he had been lured into the formation.

He knew this was bad. He heard Huang Rong calling out in rapid succession: “Vermilion Bird shifts to Azure Dragon! The xun position⁹⁶ moves to li! Yi wood transforms to gui water!” The Wu brothers and Guo Fu shifted the stones, and the formation transformed with dizzying speed. The National Preceptor was horrified. He stopped his wheel and tried to assess his surroundings, but Yang Guo’s bamboo staff came tangling toward him. The Dog-Beating Staff Technique, though insufficient to defeat him in direct combat, was more than enough to disrupt his concentration. The National Preceptor stumbled several times and could not keep his footing. He knew the stone formation was extraordinarily dangerous, the longer one remained trapped, the more disorienting it became. In his desperation, he let out a great roar and leaped onto the rock piles. Ordinarily, climbing onto the rocks would free one from the formation’s confusion. Otherwise, with one’s sense of direction scrambled, even running in a straight line would only lead in circles within an area of a few dozen feet, until one’s strength was exhausted and capture was inevitable. But the moment the National Preceptor mounted the rocks, Yang Guo’s staff swept at his ankles. The iron wheel was a short weapon and could not reach down to parry. He had no choice but to leap back to level ground and counter with a horizontal wheel strike.

After another dozen exchanges, he saw the twilight deepening. The jagged rocks all around seemed to emanate an eerie, ghostly chill. Bold and highly skilled though he was, he could not suppress a creeping dread. Suddenly, inspiration struck. The stones in the formation varied in size, the large ones were immovable, but the small ones could be dealt with. His left foot hooked upward, and a rock weighing over twenty jin⁹⁷ flew into the air. His right leg followed, and another large rock soared up. His figure flickered as both legs swept in succession. Several smaller rocks collided in mid-air with thunderous crashes, sparks and stone chips flying everywhere. In an instant, the rock formation was shattered. Huang Rong and the other four were thrown into panic, dodging the falling stones.

At this moment, Jinlun Guoshi could have escaped the formation with the greatest of ease. But instead of fleeing, he turned to the offensive, his left palm reaching out to seize Huang Rong. Yang Guo thrust the tip of his staff at the National Preceptor’s back, but the iron wheel swept it aside. The National Preceptor’s left hand had already reached Huang Rong’s shoulder. She could have leaped backward to evade, but her ear caught the whistle of fierce wind, a massive rock was hurtling down from above, directly behind her. She had no choice but to use the Great Grappling Hand⁹⁸ to hook the National Preceptor’s left wrist in a counter-grip. “Good!” the National Preceptor cried. He let her hook his wrist, and just as she was about to use his momentum to fling him aside, he suddenly surged his divine strength and pulled inward with savage force.

On an ordinary day, Huang Rong could have channelled her energy to break free, but at this moment her internal strength was insufficient. She cried out and fell. Yang Guo, horrified, threw all thoughts of life and death aside. He lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the National Preceptor’s legs. Both men crashed to the ground.

Jinlun Guoshi’s martial arts, after all, far exceeded Yang Guo’s. Before his body hit the ground, his right palm shot out and struck Yang Guo’s right chest. Yang Guo hastily raised his left arm to block. With a crack, palm met arm, and Yang Guo felt his chest churn with surging blood. His body flew backward like a bundle of straw. At precisely that moment, the last great stone in the air came crashing down, and by sheer coincidence, it struck the National Preceptor squarely in the back. The impact was devastating. However powerful his neili, he could not withstand it. Though he circulated his energy to deflect the boulder, his body swayed several times before he finally pitched forward and collapsed.

In the space of a single breath, the stones had fallen, the formation had shattered, and Huang Rong, Yang Guo, and the National Preceptor had all fallen wounded to the ground.

Author’s Note

The central conceptual conflict of this novel concerns the Song-dynasty belief that Yang Guo (as disciple) could not marry Xiaolongnü (as teacher). A certain professor of physics has formally raised the question: on what basis in Song-dynasty ritual and law was a teacher forbidden to marry? He argues that Song attitudes toward the barrier of ritual propriety⁹⁹ were in fact quite relaxed, citing Li Qingzhao’s¹⁰⁰ remarriage after widowhood as evidence. In truth, Song attitudes toward ritual propriety were anything but relaxed. That a certain individual violated the ritual code does not prove that the code did not exist. That cases of sons murdering fathers and mothers occur from time to time in present-day China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan does not prove that contemporary Chinese society condones patricide and matricide. The commonly recognised concepts of a society are usually not recorded in written law, for instance, the prohibition against marriage between father and daughter, or between mother and son, has been universally acknowledged since antiquity, yet the Analects, Mozi, Buddhist sutras, and Daoist canons generally do not mention it. That Confucius and Mencius did not explicitly condemn such marriages does not mean they approved of them. That a certain event or person existed in a certain era does not mean that era approved of or condoned that event or person. The example of Li Qingzhao does not withstand simple logic. That the Song dynasty had the traitor Qin Hui, and the Ming dynasty had Wu Sangui,¹⁰¹ does not prove that the people of the Song and Ming approved of their treachery. That the contemporary era produced Lin Biao and the Gang of Four does not prove that contemporary people condone them. Natural scientists do not study logic, but their reasoning must conform to logic. In science, a single isolated case is insufficient to prove the existence or non-existence of something.

The institution of marriage is among the most complex in human society. The people of the Song placed great emphasis on the Three Bonds and Five Constants, equating “teacher” with “father”, hence the compound term shifu (teacher-father). In the eyes of Song people, marrying one’s teacher was nearly equivalent to marrying one’s mother, or “marrying one’s elder brother’s widow.” Ouyang Xiu,¹⁰² a great Confucian scholar of the Song dynasty whose moral character and literary achievements were revered by all, once wrote a “romantic lyric” about his young niece: “Even then, when we met, I had already taken notice, how much more so now.” For this, he was falsely accused of committing adultery with his niece (though in truth nothing of the sort occurred), sparking a tremendous scandal that nearly cost him his life. In reality, attitudes toward marriage constantly shift with the times. During the Western Han, Liu Ying,¹⁰³ Emperor Hui, son of the dynasty’s founder Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), married his own niece Lady Zhang as his empress upon ascending the throne. Lady Zhang was the daughter of Princess Luyuan, who was the daughter of Liu Bang and elder sister of Emperor Hui, and had married Zhang Ao. Emperor Hui made Lady Zhang his empress partly because he had been fond of this niece since childhood, and partly at the instigation of his mother, Empress Lü. Princess Luyuan was Empress Lü’s daughter, and Lady Zhang was Empress Lü’s granddaughter. Empress Lü favoured “adding kinship to kinship.” In the Han dynasty, a niece could become empress and serve as mother to the realm. By the Song dynasty, writing a romantic poem about one’s niece nearly resulted in a death sentence, one can see how drastically attitudes had shifted. Among certain of China’s ethnic minorities, marriage customs differ again. Wang Zhaojun,¹⁰⁴ sent in political marriage to the Xiongnu, became the wife of the Chanyu¹⁰⁵ Huhanye and bore him a son. After Huhanye’s death, his eldest son by another wife, Fuzhulei Ruodi Chanyu, succeeded him and, following Xiongnu custom, took Wang Zhaojun as his own wife, that is, married his stepmother, and she later bore him two daughters.

The new marriage law revised in China in the early 1980s stipulates in Article 6 that “marriage is prohibited between collateral relatives within three generations”, that is, between cousins. The prohibition against marriage between paternal cousins has a long history in China (in remote rural villages and mountainous areas, paternal cousins who fell in love and had secret relations were sometimes killed). Article 2 of the new marriage law stipulates “the implementation of family planning.” In the future, relationships such as maternal cousins, nieces, uncles, and paternal cousins will be greatly reduced, and relations between men and women will become much simpler.

In earlier times in China, marriage between those sharing the same surname was forbidden. In later generations, this prohibition gradually relaxed, but marriage between paternal cousins remained forbidden. Foreign countries do not necessarily have such rules. In the great English novelist Emily Brontë’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights, the avenger forces his nephew to marry his own son (maternal cousins marrying). In old China, this would have been perfectly natural, but the new marriage law does not permit it.

That teachers and students cannot fall in love and marry, this concept persisted in modern China as well. When Shen Congwen¹⁰⁶ was teaching at Peking University, he pursued his student Ms. Zhang Zhaohe (later Mrs. Shen). Ms. Zhang was displeased and complained to her teacher Hu Shi,¹⁰⁷ who encouraged her to accept, and the two were eventually married. In the 1970s and 1980s, Taiwan Normal University experienced several teacher-student romance scandals. At the time, Taiwanese public opinion was in an uproar, holding that teachers and students should not fall in love. The author of the martial arts classic Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu, Mr. Li Shouwen¹⁰⁸ (Huanzhu Louzhu), in his youth worked as a private tutor for a Mr. Sun in Tianjin, teaching Mr. Sun Zhongsan’s daughter and son. The second daughter, Sun Jingxun, and Mr. Li grew close over time and fell deeply in love. Sun Zhongsan opposed teacher-student romance and forbade them from seeing each other. Miss Sun ran away from home and filed a complaint with the Tianjin Women’s Association. Sun Zhongsan colluded with the British concession authorities in Tianjin to have Mr. Li arrested and brought to court. At the trial, Miss Sun testified that she was an adult (twenty-four years old) and had voluntarily chosen to marry Li Shouwen. The judge could not convict on the charge of “teacher-student romance” and had no choice but to release him. Later, Mr. Li and Miss Sun married, one of the famous “teacher-student romance” disputes of the northern China of that era.

In The Return of the Condor Heroes, I introduce this concept for discussion, with the primary purpose of emphasising independent thought and challenging traditions that may not be reasonable. At the time, Chinese authorities strictly controlled the marriages of their subordinates, personnel had to apply to their superiors for permission to marry, and the primary criterion for approval or denial was “class background,” resulting in countless tragedies (particularly within the military). The author felt this keenly. Though I did not personally suffer from it, the influence on friends and colleagues gave me a sense of shared experience. Fortunately, the current marriage law, in Articles 3 and 4, emphasises the principle of marital freedom: “marriage must be based on the complete willingness of both parties” and “no third party may interfere.” This must surely be counted as one of the great benevolent achievements of reform and opening up.

Marriage customs are endlessly varied. A detailed study could fill a great tome. Engels, drawing on the research of the American scholar Morgan, argued that the roots of the marriage system lie in relations of exploitation, relations of production, and private property. Freud approached it from a psychological perspective, connecting it to the Oedipus complex, the patricide complex, and fraternal rivalry over inheritance. Each of these theories has its merits. In modern and contemporary times, many scholars have built their arguments on biology, linking marriage to genetics, eugenics, and related concepts, a view the author also tends to accept.

A survey of marriage laws across various countries reveals many fascinating and difficult-to-understand peculiarities. In certain regions of China’s Tibet and the Greater Liangshan Mountains, polyandrous group marriage still exists, with several brothers often sharing a single wife. Readers frequently challenge the author, arguing that Wei Xiaobao’s¹⁰⁹ one husband with seven wives in The Deer and the Cauldron¹¹⁰ is implausible. In fact, it was hardly unusual for high officials of the Ming and Qing to have multiple wives and concubines. Even ordinary minor officials or moderately wealthy landlords and merchants often took multiple wives, as depicted in Raise the Red Lantern.¹¹¹ In my youth, I often visited “Wang Manor” in Hangzhou (now converted into the “Xizi State Guesthouse”) and saw the tomb complex of its owner, a tea merchant named Wang. The central two large tombs were for Master Wang and his primary wife. To the left and right were four smaller tombs each, the graves of Master Wang’s eight concubines. I often gave Master Wang’s large tomb a few kicks to express my displeasure. All these tombs have since been demolished and levelled. The former residence of the Qing-dynasty Hangzhou merchant Hu Xueyan¹¹² is now open to the public, revealing that he had a total of thirteen wives at the time.

Even in advanced and civilised Britain, the marriage laws contain feudal traditions. Not long ago, a British couple seeking divorce had to present sufficient grounds and apply to Parliament, which had to pass a specific Act for each case before it could be granted, one can see how difficult divorce was. Current British marriage law further stipulates that a divorced man may not marry his wife’s sister, and a divorced woman may not marry her husband’s brother, that is, a sister-in-law after divorce may not marry her elder or younger brother-in-law. Yet some famous British novels feature plots that do not necessarily follow this rule, such as Galsworthy’s masterpiece The Forsyte Saga and Hardy’s masterpiece The Return of the Native. European royal families intermarried, avoiding marriage with commoners as much as possible, and generally did not prohibit cousin marriage. Queen Elizabeth II’s consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was a distant cousin of the Queen.

Marriage taboos primarily derive from the prevailing social concepts of the time. Ancient Roman law, Islamic religious law, Indian caste customary law, the laws of contemporary African Muslim nations, the regulations of Roman Catholic countries, and the customs of Eastern nations not only differ from one another but have also varied enormously within the same country across different eras. The Tang-dynasty imperial house was deeply influenced by the Xianbei people of the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou and placed little importance on generational hierarchy in ethical relations. Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin,¹¹³ after killing his own brother Yuanji¹¹⁴ during the Xuanwu Gate Incident,¹¹⁵ took Yuanji’s wife as his consort. After his death, his son Emperor Gaozong, Li Zhi,¹¹⁶ took his father’s consort Wu Zetian¹¹⁷ as his empress. Emperor Xuanzong’s¹¹⁸ beloved consort Yang Guifei¹¹⁹ was originally the wife of his son, Prince Shou, a father usurping his son’s wife, which society more or less turned a blind eye to. By the Song dynasty, although legend has it that Emperor Taizong¹²⁰ murdered his elder brother Emperor Taizu¹²¹ and also killed his younger brother Prince Jin, successive dynasties saw relatively few cases of incest and debauchery within the palace. In later folk sayings, it was “Tang flies, Song snot”, meaning the Tang had many cases of incestuous scandal, while the Song emphasised ethical propriety but was weak in foreign affairs.

In ancient societies, marriage between siblings was taken for granted. In Western mythology, Adam and Eve. In Chinese mythology, Fu Xi¹²² and Nüwa¹²³, both were sibling marriages. After the Greek Macedonians conquered Egypt, the Greek royal house, to preserve the purity of its bloodline, refused to intermarry with native Egyptians. According to records, of the fifteen kings of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, ten married their sisters as queens. The famous Queen Cleopatra also married her brother. (See Brent D. Shaw, Explaining Incest: Sister Marriage in Greco-Roman Egypt.)

In Chinese opera, there is a fine play called “Beheading the Son at the Command Tent”¹²⁴ The story goes that the famous Song-dynasty general Yang Yanzhao¹²⁵ (Yang the Sixth) bound his son Yang Zongbao¹²⁶ outside the command tent, intending to execute him for violating military discipline. A procession of high ministers and great generals came to plead for mercy, including She Taijun¹²⁷ (Yang Yanzhao’s mother), Kou Zhun¹²⁸ (the Grand Councillor), the Eighth Virtuous Prince (the emperor’s uncle), and others, but Yang Yanzhao refused them all and was determined to carry out the execution. The outcome was thoroughly comical: in the end, his daughter-in-law Mu Guiying¹²⁹ came to challenge him, defeated her father-in-law in combat, and used force to compel him to release her husband. To draw an analogy with the story of The Return of the Condor Heroes, it is as though Yang Guo wanted to marry Xiaolongnü, and Guo Jing was about to strike him dead with a single palm. Huang Yaoshi, Ke Zhen’e,¹³⁰ Huang Rong, Zhu Ziliu, and Great Master Yideng¹³¹ all tried to dissuade him, to no avail. Xiaolongnü, in desperation, deployed the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra martial arts and fought, defeating Guo Jing so soundly that he had no choice but to agree not to interfere in the two’s marriage. Folk drama often represents the shared beliefs of the common people. The story of “Beheading the Son at the Command Tent” is not historical fact, yet it expresses the general thinking of the broad masses.

On July 19, 2003, Hong Kong and foreign newspapers carried a report: the University of California, Berkeley (generally known as UC Berkeley, one of America’s most famous universities) issued a campus-wide circular announcing that faculty members (including deans, department chairs, professors, associate professors, and lecturers) were prohibited from dating or marrying students. Violators among the faculty would be dismissed. Students would be expelled. Yale University and others were reported to have already established such rules. Some faculty and students protested, citing the example of Nobel laureate Professor John Nash of Princeton University, who, while teaching at MIT, fell in love with and married his student Alicia, and later became one of the great scholars of his generation. Although American law does not prohibit teacher-student marriage, prejudice persists among academic and socially conservative circles.

The rules at UC Berkeley, Yale, and other institutions are not based on feudal notions that teachers and students cannot marry, but rather on concerns about fairness and favouritism in exam grading, allocation of research funds, conferral of degrees, and similar matters, analogous to the “avoidance system” in China’s imperial-era civil examinations and local official appointments, where the focus was on preventing opportunities for corruption and favouritism.

Critics ask: what Song-dynasty regulation of ritual and law stated that teacher and student could not fall in love and marry? In which book, in which statute?

In truth, it is not only the Song dynasty, even in the relatively open and Westernised present-day Taiwan and Hong Kong, countless prominent figures have opposed teacher-student romance and marriage. The marriage of Mr. Qian Mu¹³² and Ms. Hu, and the marriage of Mr. Liang Shiqiu¹³³ and Ms. Han, both stirred tremendous public controversy at the time. Mr. Liang’s disciples even organised a front to “fight to defend their teacher.” The celebrated novelist Xu Xu,¹³⁴ in his essay “Gender Issues and Literature,” wrote: “The romance and union of Mr. Qian and Ms. Hu also drew considerable criticism at the time, because Ms. Hu was Mr. Qian’s student, and Ms. Hu’s father was a friend of Mr. Qian. If judged by Western principles of love, since the two loved each other, their union was entirely moral. Rather, it was the critics who, in their subconscious, still clung to traditional Chinese concepts of sexual morality, regarding romance between an elder and a junior as a form of quasi-incest. Some say that the criticism of Mr. Qian was not directed at his romance and marriage, but arose because Mr. Qian was a proponent of Chinese cultural essentialism, a scholar who saw himself as the guardian of traditional Chinese morality, and was therefore judged on grounds of inconsistency between words and deeds. This argument is not without merit.”

Even the famously open-minded Mr. Yin Haiguang¹³⁵ expressed reservations on the matter. In Chapter Seven of his The Prospects of Chinese Culture, in the essay “Words and Deeds Not in Accord,” he wrote: “The moralists emphasise the ‘orthodox transmission of the Way’… Neo-Confucianism possesses a certain power in Chinese society and culture to shape a particular type of person. ‘Inconsistency between words and deeds’ is one of the most notable characteristics of this type.”

Mr. Yeh Huo,¹³⁶ the lead editorial writer of Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily at the time, wrote: “In my critique during the ‘Cultural Debate,’ I was not targeting the old gentleman’s marriage, but rather the inconsistency between his words and deeds. For this old gentleman is a proponent of Chinese cultural essentialism, one who ordinarily takes it upon himself to uphold traditional Chinese morality. Yet in his actual life, he does not at all follow that set of moral codes he himself proclaims, his thinking takes traditional Chinese culture as its standard, while his living (or at least his marriage) adopts the standards of Western culture.” (See Yeh Huo, Collected Essays on the Chinese Traditional Culture Debate.)

These gentlemen believed that teacher-student romance violated Chinese cultural tradition. Yet Jin Yong personally witnessed the happy married life of Mr. Qian and Ms. Hu. After Mr. Qian lost his sight, he relied entirely on Ms. Hu to read books and newspapers aloud, to draft articles and answer correspondence, and to review and collate his writings. Jin Yong holds this couple in the deepest admiration.

July 19, 2003

杨过 – Yáng Guò. His name meaning “fault or transgression”; his courtesy name Gaizhi means “to correct it”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
中原 – Zhōngyuán. Central Plains, the historical heartland of Chinese civilisation along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. ↩
小龙女 – Xiǎolóngnǚ. Literally little dragon maiden. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
金轮国师 – Jīnlún Guóshī. Mongol Empire’s national teacher and martial arts adept. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
黄蓉 – Huáng Róng. Her name meaning “lotus” or “hibiscus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
郭靖 – Guō Jìng. His name meaning “tranquillity” or “pacification”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
点苍渔隐 – Diǎncāng Yúyǐn. Hermit Fisherman of Diancang; one of Great Master Yideng’s four disciples. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
过儿 – Guò’ér. Affectionate diminutive of Yang Guo’s name, with the diminutive suffix -er indicating affection or familiarity. ↩
陆无双 – Lù Wúshuāng. Her name meaning “peerless” or “without equal”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
里 – lǐ. Traditional Chinese unit of distance, approximately one-third of a mile or five hundred metres. ↩
Seven emotions and six desires (七情六欲). Qīqíng Liùyù. In traditional Chinese thought: the seven emotions are joy, anger, grief, fear, love, hate, and desire; the six desires arise from the six senses. Suppressing these was key to the Ancient Tomb Sect’s cultivation. ↩
林朝英 – Lín Cháoyīng. Her name meaning “facing the hero” or “morning hero”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
郭芙 – Guō Fú. Her name meaning “lotus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
Wu Brothers. Wu Dunru (武敦儒) and Wu Xiuwen (武修文), sons of Wu Santong, disciples of Guo Jing and Huang Rong. ↩
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. ↩
八拜之交 (Bā Bài Zhī Jiāo). “Sworn Brotherhood of Eight Bows.” A solemn oath of brotherhood involving eight prostrations, binding the participants as close as blood brothers. Guo Jing’s father Guo Xiaotian and Yang Guo’s grandfather Yang Tiexin were such sworn brothers, and they had arranged the betrothal of their unborn children. ↩
郭啸天 – Guō Xiàotiān. His name meaning “roaring at heaven”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
杨铁心 – Yáng Tiěxīn. His name meaning “iron heart”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
宋朝 (Sòng Cháo). Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), the period in which The Return of the Condor Heroes is set. Southern Song period (1127–1279) was marked by constant military pressure from northern states, eventually succumbing to the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. ↩
三纲五常 (Sāngāng Wǔcháng). “Three Bonds and Five Constants.” A core Confucian ethical framework. Three Bonds are: ruler over subject, father over son, husband over wife. Five Constants are: benevolence (仁), righteousness (义), propriety (礼), wisdom (智), and trustworthiness (信). ↩
师父 (Shīfu). “Teacher-Father.” The standard term for a martial arts master, combining the characters for “teacher” (师) and “father” (父). Compound reflects the Confucian principle that the teacher-disciple bond carries the weight of the parent-child relationship. ↩
Author’s Note (1). Jin Yong appended an extended discussion of the historical and cross-cultural dimensions of teacher-student marriage to this chapter. See the author’s note at the end of the translation. ↩
Quanzhen Sect (全真教). Major Daoist school founded by Wang Chongyang. In Jin Yong’s wuxia universe, it is one of the most powerful martial arts sects, based at the Chongyang Palace on Mount Zhongnan. Its seven senior disciples are known as the Seven Masters of Quanzhen. ↩
Gugu (姑姑) — Literally “paternal aunt,” but used here as a term of respectful address for a young woman of the older generation. Yang Guo uses this to address Xiaolongnü, his shifu. ↩
洪七公 – Hóng Qīgōng. Literally Hong the Seventh Lord; the numeral seven marks seniority among sworn brothers. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩ ↩²
赵志敬 – Zhào Zhìjìng. His name meaning “aspiring to reverence”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
甄志丙 – Zhēn Zhìbǐng. His name meaning “aspiring to the third stem”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩ ↩²
玉女心经 – Yùnǚ Xīnjīng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
内伤 (Nèishāng). “Internal injury.” In wuxia fiction, damage inflicted not to the surface of the body but to the internal organs and energy pathways through the transmission of neili (neili). Such injuries are often more dangerous than external wounds and require specialised treatment. ↩
孙不二 – Sūn Bùèr. Her name meaning “not two”, signifying non-duality. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
郝大通 – Hǎo Dàtōng. His name meaning “great penetration”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
过 (Guò). Yang Guo’s given name means “fault,” “error,” or “excess.” His courtesy name, Gaizhi (改之), means “to correct it.” Huang Rong gave him this name hoping that he would learn from his father Yang Kang’s mistakes and walk a righteous path. ↩
字 (Zì). “Courtesy name.” A formal name given upon reaching adulthood (traditionally at age twenty for men), used by peers and in formal contexts in place of the given name. Yang Guo’s courtesy name, “Gaizhi” (改之), literally means “reform it” or “correct it.” ↩
天突穴 (Tiāntū Xué). “Celestial Chimney” acupoint, located at the hollow of the throat. Seizing this point can immobilise an opponent’s entire body by blocking the flow of neili. ↩
杨康 – Yáng Kāng. His name meaning “health” or “peace”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
瘦马 (Shòu Mǎ). “Lean Horse.” Yang Guo’s horse, a scrawny but exceptionally swift and intelligent mount. Despite its unimpressive appearance, it has proven remarkably capable in critical moments. ↩
古墓 – Gǔmù. Underground tomb complex beneath Zhongnan Mountain, home of the Ancient Tomb School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
王重阳 – Wáng Chóngyáng. His name meaning “double yang”, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
玉女剑法 – Yùnǚ Jiànfǎ. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
全真剑法 – Quánzhēn Jiànfǎ. Seven swords with seven forms, totalling forty-nine variations emphasising defence. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
小红马 (Xiǎo Hóng Mǎ). “Little Red Horse.” Guo Jing’s legendary steed, a sweat-blood horse of extraordinary speed, endurance, and intelligence. It was a gift from the Mongol plains in Guo Jing’s youth and has accompanied him through countless adventures. ↩
Huo Dou (霍都). Huò Dōu. Golden Wheel National Preceptor’s third disciple, a Mongol prince. Cunning and ruthless, he uses a folding fan with hidden poison darts. ↩
玉蜂针 – Yùfēng Zhēn. Fine needles coated with Jade Bee poison, a signature concealed weapon of the Ancient Tomb School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
佛爷 (Fóyé). “Lord Buddha.” A grandiose self-reference used by Jinlun Guoshi, reflecting both his status as a Tibetan Buddhist preceptor and his imperious personality. ↩
打狗棒法 – Dǎgǒu Bàngfǎ. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
丐帮 – Gàibāng. Largest martial arts organisation in the jianghu, continued from LOCH era. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
侠义 (Xiáyì). “Chivalrous righteousness.” The core moral code of the wuxia genre — the obligation of the martial artist to protect the weak, right wrongs, and act with honour, even at great personal cost. ↩ ↩²
单掌开碑 (Dān Zhǎng Kāi Bēi). “Splitting the Stele with One Palm.” A powerful palm strike capable of splitting a stone tablet. ↩
轻功 – qīnggōng. Literally lightness skill. Martial art of body lightness; masters can leap great heights and move with extraordinary speed. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
金刚宗 – Jīngāng Zōng. Vajra (Diamond/Thunderbolt) school of Esoteric Buddhism, known for distinctive martial arts including the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill. ↩
Vajra pestle (金刚降魔杵). Jīngāng Xiángmó Chǔ. Literally “vajra demon-subduing pestle.” A ritual implement in Esoteric Buddhism representing the indestructible vajra thunderbolt, adapted as a heavy bludgeoning weapon. ↩
达尔巴 – Dá’ěrbā. Golden Wheel National Preceptor’s second disciple. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
移魂大法 – Yíhún Dàfǎ. Technique from the Nine Yin Manual. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
千斤坠 (Qiānjīn Zhuì). “Thousand-Catty Anchor.” An neili technique that roots the practitioner to the ground with immense weight. ↩
围魏救赵 (Wéi Wèi Jiù Zhào). “Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao.” A classical Chinese military stratagem from Sun Bin: rather than directly reinforcing an ally under attack, strike at the enemy’s vulnerable rear to force them to withdraw. Here, Yang Guo attacks Jinlun Guoshi’s back to force him to abandon his assault on Xiaolongnü. ↩
雁行斜击 (Yàn Xíng Xié Jī). “Wild Goose Flies Slantwise.” A Quanzhen sword technique in which the practitioner moves at an angle, like a wild goose cutting across the sky, to attack from an unexpected direction while evading the enemy’s strike. ↩
白虹经天 (Bái Hóng Jīng Tiān). “White Rainbow Spans the Heavens.” A Quanzhen sword technique characterised by a horizontal spinning slash, like a white rainbow arching across the sky. ↩
四两拨千斤 (Sì Liǎng Bō Qiān Jīn). “Four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds.” A fundamental principle of Chinese martial arts, particularly taiji: using minimal force, applied at the right angle and moment, to redirect a much greater force. ↩
九阴真经 – Jiǔyīn Zhēnjīng. Legendary martial arts compendium compiled by Huang Shang during the Northern Song dynasty. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
大摔碑手 (Dà Shuāibēi Shǒu). “Great Stele-Smashing Hand.” A devastating palm technique of immense power, capable of shattering stone tablets. ↩
浪迹天涯 (Làngjì Tiānyá). “Wandering to the Ends of the Earth.” The name of a paired sword technique, one version from Quanzhen Swordplay and one from Jade Maiden Swordplay. ↩
花前月下 (Huā Qián Yuè Xià). “Beneath the Flowers, Before the Moon.” A classical romantic setting — lovers meeting in a garden under moonlight. Paired technique evokes this atmosphere of tender intimacy while delivering deadly strikes. ↩
清饮小酌 (Qīng Yǐn Xiǎo Zhuó). “Drinking Wine in Quiet Leisure.” A gentle, intimate scene of two people sharing wine in peaceful contentment. Technique mimics the gestures of pouring and drinking. ↩
井底之蛙 (Jǐngdǐ Zhī Wā). “A frog at the bottom of a well.” A Chinese idiom for someone of limited perspective who cannot see beyond their narrow world, derived from a Zhuangzi fable. ↩
抚琴按箫 (Fǔ Qín Àn Xiāo). “Playing the Zither and Flute.” A duet between two instruments, the qin (zither) and xiao (vertical flute), representing harmony between lovers. ↩
扫雪烹茶 (Sǎo Xuě Pēng Chá). “Sweeping Snow to Brew Tea.” A refined winter pastime: gathering fresh snow to melt for brewing the finest tea. Scene of shared aesthetic pleasure. ↩
松下对弈 (Sōng Xià Duì Yì). “Playing Chess Beneath the Pines.” A classic image of leisurely refinement — two people playing weiqi (Go) under ancient pine trees. ↩
池边调鹤 (Chí Biān Diào Hè). “Strolling with Cranes by the Pond.” Tending to cranes by a garden pond, a traditional pursuit of Daoist recluses and scholars, symbolising transcendence and harmony with nature. ↩
玉女素心剑 – Yùnǚ Sùxīn Jiàn. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
小园艺菊 (Xiǎo Yuán Yì Jú). “Tending Chrysanthemums in a Small Garden.” A poetic image of quiet domestic cultivation, associated with the reclusive poet Tao Yuanming. ↩
茜窗夜话 (Qiàn Chuāng Yè Huà). “Night Talk by the Latticed Window.” Intimate conversation through a window of red latticed paper, suggesting whispered confidences between lovers. ↩
柳荫联句 (Liǔ Yīn Lián Jù). “Exchanging Couplets in the Willow Shade.” Two people composing linked verses together under the shade of willows — a refined literary pastime shared by kindred spirits. ↩
竹帘临池 (Zhú Lián Lín Chí). “Approaching the Pond Through the Bamboo Curtain.” A scene of quiet contemplation by water, the bamboo curtain suggesting elegant seclusion. ↩
秃驴 (Tūlǘ). “Bald donkey.” A crude insult directed at Buddhist monks, mocking their shaved heads. Yang Guo’s pun turns “刺驴” (stab donkey) into a jab at Jinlun Guoshi. ↩
玉蜂蜜浆 (Yùfēng Mì Jiāng). “Jade Bee Honey.” The honey produced by the Ancient Tomb Sect’s specially bred jade bees. It serves as both a health tonic and the antidote to the Jade Bee Needle poison. ↩
黄药师 – Huáng Yàoshī. His name meaning “medicine master”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
Thornwood hairpin (荆钗). Jīngchāi. Simple hairpin made from thornwood, symbolising the austere, unadorned lifestyle of the Ancient Tomb Sect. Xiaolongnü wears no jewellery or ornamentation. ↩
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. ↩
申牌时分 (Shēn Pái Shífēn). “The hour of the Shen marker.” In traditional Chinese timekeeping, the shen hour spans from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. Reference to “late afternoon” captures the period around 4:00 to 5:00 PM. ↩
Taiji (太极). Supreme Ultimate, the fundamental principle of Chinese cosmology. Represented by the famous taijitu diagram (☯), it depicts yin and yang in dynamic, circular interdependence. Here, the merging of Hong Qigong’s orthodox and Ouyang Feng’s reverse Nine Yin Manual energy into a harmonious whole mirrors the taiji principle at its deepest level. ↩
两仪 (Liǎngyí). “Two Polarities.” Yin and yang, the complementary forces that arise from the Supreme Ultimate and whose interaction generates all phenomena. ↩
五行 (Wǔxíng). “Five Elements” or “Five Phases”: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. They interact through cycles of mutual generation and mutual overcoming, forming the basis of Chinese cosmology, medicine, and strategic thought. ↩
八卦 (Bāguà). “Eight Trigrams.” Eight symbolic configurations of broken and unbroken lines representing fundamental principles of reality, used in Daoist cosmology and divination (Yijing). ↩
桃花岛 – Táohuā Dǎo. Huang Yaoshi’s island stronghold, continued from LOCH era. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
华山 – Huáshān. One of China’s Five Sacred Mountains, site of martial arts competitions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
西毒 (Xī Dú). “Western Poison,” the martial name of Ouyang Feng. One of the Five Greats of the previous generation, known for his mastery of poison and his Toad Skill. He was Yang Guo’s godfather, having taken the boy under his wing during a period of madness. ↩
鲁有脚 – Lǔ Yǒujiǎo. His name meaning “having feet”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
葫芦里卖什么药 (Húlu lǐ mài shénme yào). “What medicine they’re selling in their gourd.” A Chinese idiom meaning “what they’re really up to” — derived from the image of travelling medicine peddlers who kept their remedies hidden in gourds. ↩
四象 (Sì Xiàng). “Four Symbols.” The four mythological guardian creatures of Chinese cosmology: Azure Dragon of the East, White Tiger of the West, Vermilion Bird of the South, and Dark Warrior (tortoise-serpent) of the North. They correspond to the four cardinal directions and feature prominently in Daoist divination and military strategy. ↩
诸葛亮 – Zhūgě Liàng. (181–234 CE) Legendary prime minister and military strategist of the Shu Han kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period. ↩
八阵图 (Bā Zhèn Tú). “Eight-Triggers Formation.” A legendary military formation attributed to Zhuge Liang, constructed from stone piles arranged according to the principles of the Eight Trigrams. Said to be impenetrable and inescapable once entered. ↩
陆逊 (Lù Xùn). Lu Xun (183–245 CE), a brilliant general of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. Historically, he led Wu forces to a decisive victory against Shu Han at the Battle of Yiling. ↩
武侯 (Wǔhóu). “Marquis of War.” The posthumous title of Zhuge Liang, honouring his military achievements. Also known as Zhuge Wuhou. ↩
八字诀 (Bā Zì Jué). “Eight Character Principles.” The eight core techniques of the Dog-Beating Staff Technique: tripping, splitting, tangling, poking, picking, luring, sealing, and turning. ↩
巽位 (Xùn Wèi). xun trigram position, representing wind and the southeast direction in the Eight Trigrams system. Huang Rong’s commands use trigram terminology to direct the rearrangement of the formation. ↩
斤 – jīn. Traditional Chinese unit of weight, approximately one pound or half a kilogram. ↩
大擒拿手 (Dà Qínná Shǒu). “Great Grappling Hand.” An advanced joint-locking and grappling technique that targets the opponent’s joints and acupoints to immobilise or throw them. ↩
礼教大防 (Lǐjiào Dàfáng). “The Great Barrier of Ritual Propriety.” The “ritual teachings” (礼教) refers to the Confucian ethical code governing social relationships and hierarchies. “great barrier” (大防) is the inviolable boundary these codes establish — in this chapter, specifically the prohibition against marriage between teacher and student, which Song dynasty society regarded as akin to incest. Jin Yong’s extended authorial note at the end of this chapter discusses the historical and cross-cultural dimensions of this taboo at length. ↩
李清照 (Lǐ Qīngzhào). Li Qingzhao (1084–c.1155), one of China’s greatest poets. After her first husband Zhao Mingcheng died, she later remarried — a fact sometimes cited to argue that Song society was relaxed about widow remarriage. Jin Yong argues this single case does not reflect prevailing social norms. ↩
吴三桂 (Wú Sānguì). Wu Sangui (1612–1678), a Ming general who opened Shanhai Pass to the Manchu invaders, enabling the Qing conquest of China. He is remembered as one of history’s great traitors. ↩
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. ↩
刘盈 (Liú Yíng). Emperor Hui of Han (210–188 BCE), the second emperor of the Western Han dynasty. His marriage to his niece Zhang Yan was arranged by his mother Empress Lü. ↩
王昭君 (Wáng Zhāojūn). One of the “Four Great Beauties” of ancient China. During the Western Han, she was sent as a bride to the Xiongnu Chanyu as part of a peace alliance (heqin). After her first husband’s death, Xiongnu custom required her to marry his son. ↩
单于 (Chányú). Title of the supreme ruler of the Xiongnu, equivalent to “Khan” or “Emperor.” ↩
沈从文 (Shěn Cóngwén). Shen Congwen (1902–1988), one of modern China’s greatest writers, known for his lyrical depictions of rural life in western Hunan. His pursuit of his student Zhang Zhaohe, and their eventual marriage, was a celebrated literary romance. ↩
胡适 (Hú Shì). Hu Shi (1891–1962), a leading Chinese intellectual, philosopher, and diplomat. Key figure in the New Culture Movement, he advocated for vernacular literature and pragmatic reform. ↩
李寿民 (Lǐ Shòumín). Li Shoumin (1902–1961), pen name Huanzhu Louzhu (还珠楼主), author of the monumental martial arts fantasy series Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu (蜀山剑侠传), which deeply influenced the wuxia genre. ↩
韦小宝 (Wéi Xiǎobǎo). Protagonist of Jin Yong’s final novel The Deer and the Cauldron. Streetwise rogue who rises to great power and ends up with seven wives — a deliberately comic and subversive departure from the traditional chivalrous hero. ↩
鹿鼎记 (Lù Dǐng Jì). The Deer and the Cauldron, Jin Yong’s last and most politically sophisticated martial arts novel, set in the early Qing dynasty. ↩
大红灯笼高高挂 (Dà Hóng Dēnglong Gāogāo Guà). Raise the Red Lantern, Zhang Yimou’s 1991 film adaptation of Su Tong’s novel Wives and Concubines, depicting the life of a wealthy man’s multiple wives in 1920s China. ↩
胡雪岩 (Hú Xuěyán). Hu Xueyan (1823–1885), a legendary merchant and banker of late Qing-dynasty Hangzhou, known as the “God of Wealth.” His lavish lifestyle and eventual bankruptcy became the stuff of legend. ↩
李世民 (Lǐ Shìmín). Emperor Taizong of Tang (598–649 CE), one of China’s greatest emperors. He seized the throne by killing his brothers in the Xuanwu Gate Incident but ruled with extraordinary competence, ushering in the golden age of the Tang dynasty. ↩
李元吉 (Lǐ Yuánjí). Li Yuanji (603–626 CE), the fourth son of Tang dynasty founder Li Yuan. He was killed by Li Shimin during the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Li Shimin subsequently took Yuanji’s wife, Lady Yang, as his consort. ↩
玄武门之变 (Xuánwǔ Mén Zhī Biàn). “The Xuanwu Gate Incident” (626 CE). Palace coup in which Li Shimin ambushed and killed his elder brother, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, and younger brother Li Yuanji, seizing de facto control of the Tang dynasty. ↩
李治 (Lǐ Zhì). Emperor Gaozong of Tang (628–683 CE). He married his father’s former concubine Wu Zetian and elevated her to empress, a union that shocked Confucian sensibilities. ↩
武则天 (Wǔ Zétiān). Wu Zetian (624–705 CE), the only woman in Chinese history to rule as emperor in her own right. She began as a concubine of Emperor Taizong, later became empress to his son Gaozong, and eventually founded her own Zhou dynasty. ↩
唐玄宗 (Táng Xuánzōng). Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (685–762 CE), whose reign saw the peak of Tang culture and power before the catastrophic An Lushan Rebellion. His infatuation with Yang Guifei is one of Chinese history’s most famous love stories. ↩
杨贵妃 (Yáng Guìfēi). Yang Guifei (719–756 CE), the “Imperial Consort Yang,” one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China. She was originally the wife of Emperor Xuanzong’s son before the emperor took her as his own consort. ↩
宋太宗 (Sòng Tàizōng). Emperor Taizong of Song (939–997 CE), the second Song emperor. According to popular legend, he murdered his elder brother Emperor Taizu to seize the throne. ↩
宋太祖 (Sòng Tàizǔ). Emperor Taizu of Song (927–976 CE), the founding emperor of the Song dynasty. His mysterious death — and the “shadow of the candle and the sound of the axe” — has fuelled centuries of speculation that his brother murdered him. ↩
伏羲 (Fú Xī). Culture hero in Chinese mythology, credited with creating the Eight Trigrams, teaching humanity to hunt and fish, and instituting marriage. He and his sister Nüwa are the primordial pair in Chinese creation myths. ↩
女娲 (Nǚwā). Mother goddess in Chinese mythology who created humanity from clay and repaired the pillar of heaven. She is both sister and wife to Fu Xi in the earliest myths. ↩
辕门斩子 (Yuánmén Zhǎn Zǐ). “Beheading the Son at the Command Tent.” A famous Chinese opera based on the legends of the Yang family generals. It dramatises the conflict between military duty and family bonds. ↩
杨延昭 (Yáng Yánzhāo). Yang Yanzhao (958–1014), a historical Song-dynasty general of the famous Yang family, popularly known as “Yang the Sixth.” His exploits were greatly embellished in folklore and opera. ↩
杨宗保 (Yáng Zōngbǎo). Yang Zongbao, the fictional son of Yang Yanzhao in the Yang family legends. His marriage to the warrior woman Mu Guiying is a beloved story in Chinese popular culture. ↩
佘太君 (Shé Tàijūn). She Taijun, the matriarch of the Yang family in folklore, said to have lived past one hundred and led the Yang women into battle. ↩
寇准 (Kòu Zhǔn). Kou Zhun (961–1023), a celebrated Song-dynasty statesman and Grand Councillor known for his integrity and his role in resisting the Liao invasion. ↩
穆桂英 (Mù Guìyīng). Mu Guiying, the legendary woman warrior of the Yang family sagas. She defeated Yang Zongbao in combat, then married him, and became one of the most famous female generals in Chinese folklore. ↩
柯镇恶 – Kē Zhèn’è. His name meaning “subduing evil”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
一灯大师 – Yīdēng Dàshī. Literally one-lamp master; a Buddhist honorific title. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
钱穆 (Qián Mù). Qian Mu (1895–1990), one of modern China’s most influential historians and philosophers, known for his defence of traditional Chinese culture. His marriage to his student Hu Meiqi sparked considerable controversy. ↩
梁实秋 (Liáng Shíqiū). Liang Shiqiu (1903–1987), a renowned Chinese essayist, translator (he translated the complete works of Shakespeare into Chinese), and literary critic. His late-life marriage to his former student also drew public debate. ↩
徐吁 (Xú Xū). Xu Xu (1908–1980), a popular Chinese novelist and essayist known for romantic and philosophical works. His observations on the Qian Mu controversy provide a contemporary perspective on teacher-student marriage debates. ↩
殷海光 (Yīn Hǎiguāng). Yin Haiguang (1919–1969), a prominent Taiwanese liberal philosopher and critic of traditionalism. Student of logic and analytic philosophy, he was a leading voice for intellectual freedom. ↩
野火 (Yěhuǒ). “Wildfire,” pen name of a prominent Hong Kong editorialist of the mid-20th century who participated vigorously in the cultural debates of the era. ↩

The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 14

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