The Old Woman Beneath the Earth.

The instant Yang Guo¹’s foot touched the surface of the water, a surge of joy filled his heart. He knew his life was safe for now. Otherwise, plunging straight down from a height of several dozen zhang, neither of them could possibly survive.² The force of the fall was immense, driving them deep underwater. He felt himself sinking endlessly, as if there were no bottom to this abyss. Holding his breath, he waited for the downward momentum to ease, then used his left arm to cradle Gongsun Lü’e³ while his right hand paddled upward. The moment his head broke the surface and he drew a breath, a rank, fishy stench assailed his nostrils. At the same time, the water to his left churned violently, as though some enormous aquatic creature was bearing down upon them.

A thought flashed through his mind: That villainous Valley Master trapped us here. Did you think it would end well? His right hand shot out, sending a fierce palm strike crashing to his left. A thunderous boom rang out as it struck something hard. Waves surged around them. Riding the momentum of that strike, he swept Gongsun Lü’e clear to the right, pulling her away.

Yang Guo was no skilled swimmer. His ability to endure underwater came purely from holding his breath through neili⁴ cultivation.⁵ Now, in total darkness, he could hear the sound of furious splashing from his left and from behind. His right palm swept out and suddenly pressed against something vast, icy cold, and rough to the touch, like the scales and armour of some aquatic beast. He was badly startled. Can it be that venomous dragons truly exist in this world?⁶ He pushed off with force, propelling himself upward, while the creature was shoved down into the depths by his pressure. He drew a deep breath, preparing to dive underwater once more, but to his surprise, his right foot landed on solid ground. He had not anticipated this at all, the force in his leg was wrong, and the impact jarred him hard, sending a sharp pain through his right leg.

The joy of survival outweighed the pain in his leg. He reached out to feel his surroundings, it was the rocky edge beside the abyss. Fearing the creature might attack again, he hurriedly carried Lü’e and climbed to higher ground. Once seated securely, his panic gradually subsided. Gongsun Lü’e had swallowed a great deal of water and was already half unconscious. Yang Guo laid her across his lap, letting the water drain slowly from her mouth. He heard scrabbling sounds on the rocks, and the reek of decay grew stronger. Several creatures were crawling up from the pool.

Lü’e flipped herself upright, threw her arms around Yang Guo’s neck, and cried out in terror, “What is that?” Yang Guo said, “Don’t be afraid. Hide behind me.” Lü’e did not move, only clutching him tighter, her voice trembling. “Crocodiles! Crocodiles!”

During his days on Peach Blossom Island, Yang Guo had seen many crocodiles.⁷ He knew these creatures were ferocious and cruel, even more savage than the tigers and wolves of the land. Back then, whenever he and Guo Fu⁸ and the Wu brothers encountered them, they never dared provoke the beasts and always steered well clear. He had never imagined he would meet them here, in this subterranean abyss. He steadied himself and listened intently. From the sound of their footfalls, he judged there were three crocodiles, creeping closer step by step.

Lü’e whispered, “Brother Yang, I never thought you and I would die together.” There was a note of strange contentment in her voice. Yang Guo laughed. “If we must die, let us at least kill a few crocodiles first.”

By now, the foremost crocodile was less than a zhang from Yang Guo’s feet. Lü’e cried, “Strike! Quick!” Yang Guo said, “Wait a moment longer.” He stretched out his right foot, dangling it over the edge of the rock. The crocodile crept several more chi closer, then opened its great maw and snapped viciously at his foot. Yang Guo pulled his foot back and followed with a sweeping kick that caught the crocodile squarely under the jaw. The beast tumbled head over tail into the abyss. The splash set off a commotion among the other crocodiles in the pool, but two more were already creeping closer.

Though Yang Guo was afflicted with the Passion Flower’s deadly poison, his martial skill had not diminished in the slightest. That kick carried several hundred jin of force.⁹ Yet the crocodile’s hide was tough, his toes still tingled with pain from the impact, and the crocodile, after tumbling into the pool, swam about as freely as ever. He thought, Barehanded, I cannot handle this many fierce crocodiles. If this goes on, Miss Gongsun and I will sooner or later be devoured. I must find some way to kill every one of these beasts. He reached out, hoping to find a large rock to use as a weapon, but the rock surface was utterly bare, not even a grain of sand. Hearing two more crocodiles draw nearer, he asked urgently, “Do you have a sword on you?”

Gongsun Lü’e said, “On me?” She remembered how, in the Alchemy Chamber, she had stripped off her dress, leaving only her undergarments.¹⁰ Now, nestled against Yang Guo’s chest, she was overcome with shame. Her whole body flushed with heat, yet in her heart a sweetness blossomed that was joy beyond measure.

Yang Guo’s full attention was fixed on the approaching crocodiles. He did not notice her state. His ears told him that two crocodiles were now barely a zhang away, with two more behind him. He could strike them down into the pool with his palms, but they would only attack again moments later, it would do no good, and his neili would drain away steadily. So he held his power in reserve. When the two crocodiles crawled to within three chi of him, he suddenly struck out with both palms. Pak, pak, two blows landed simultaneously on the crocodiles’ heads. Crocodiles are slow to turn. When Yang Guo’s palms arrived, they did not know to evade. But their hide was thick and tough. They were merely stunned for a moment before sliding into the pool. At that very instant, the two crocodiles behind him had already crept close. Yang Guo kicked one off the rock with his left foot, but the kick was too forceful, his grip on Lü’e loosened, and she tilted sideways, sliding toward the edge.

Lü’e cried out in alarm. She pressed her right hand against the rock and propelled herself back up with a surge of strength. Yang Guo placed his palm against her back and pushed her to safety. But that delay had cost him, the last crocodile was already upon him, its enormous jaws gaping wide as it lunged for his shoulder. There was no time now for fist strikes or kicks. He could leap aside to dodge, but if those jaws snapped shut, they might well close on Lü’e instead. In this desperate moment, he shot both hands out, one seized the upper jaw, the other the lower. Summoning his neili, he gave a great shout. Crrr-ack! The crocodile’s jaws split apart at the middle, and it died on the spot.

Though Yang Guo had wrenched the fierce crocodile to death, cold sweat soaked his back from the terror of it. Lü’e asked, “Are you hurt?” Hearing the tenderness and concern in her voice, Yang Guo felt his heart stir slightly. “No,” he said. Only the strain had been too great, his arms ached a little. Lü’e noticed that the dead crocodile’s body lay motionless on the rock and was filled with admiration. “How did you kill it with your bare hands? And how can you see so clearly in the dark?” Yang Guo said, “I lived with my Gugu¹¹ in the ancient tomb for many years. So long as there is the faintest glimmer of light, I can see.”¹² At the mention of Gugu and the ancient tomb, he could not help but heave a long sigh. Suddenly, a violent pain seized his entire body, agony beyond all endurance. He could not hold back a terrible howl, and at the same time he kicked the dead crocodile flying into the pool.

Two crocodiles were just climbing onto the rock. Hearing his agonised cry, they were so startled that they leaped back into the water.

Gongsun Lü’e hurriedly grasped his arm. With her other hand, she gently stroked his forehead, hoping to ease his pain a little. Yang Guo knew he was afflicted with a lethal poison. Even without this mortal peril, he had only days left to live. He had heard Gongsun Valley Master say that he would suffer thirty-six days of agony before death. But the pain was so unbearable, after a few more bouts like this, he would lose the will to endure and take his own life. Yet once he was dead, Lü’e would have no one to protect her. Would that not be a terrible fate? He thought, The reason she is in such danger is all because of me. No matter how great the pain, I must hold on. I can only hope the Valley Master still harbours some fatherly affection and will eventually relent and rescue her. His mind churning with these thoughts, he did not think of Xiaolongnü¹³ for a time, and the pain eased. He said, “Miss Gongsun, don’t be afraid. I think your father will come to rescue you soon. He only hates me. He has always doted on you. By now, he must already be filled with regret.”

Gongsun Lü’e’s tears fell. “When my mother was still alive, Father truly loved me dearly. After she died, he grew colder toward me day by day. But he… he… in his heart, I know he does not hate me.” She paused for a moment, and suddenly many strange, puzzling things came to mind. She said, “Brother Yang, I’ve just realised. Father has always been afraid of me.” Yang Guo said, puzzled, “Afraid of you? That is strange indeed.” Lü’e said, “Yes. I always felt that when Father saw me, his expression was deeply unnatural, as though he were hiding some vital secret and was terrified I might discover it. All these years, he has done everything he could to avoid me, to keep from seeing my face.”

She had always sensed something strange in her father’s manner, but whenever she thought about it, she had told herself it was only grief over her mother’s death that had altered his temperament. But this time, falling into the crocodile pool had clearly been a trap laid by her father. He had shifted the three alchemy furnaces in the Alchemy Chamber, that was surely what triggered the trapdoor mechanism. If her father hated Yang Guo and wanted him dead, Yang Guo was already poisoned by the Passion Flower. Simply withholding treatment would have been enough to kill him. Besides, at the moment Yang Guo was falling toward the crocodile pool, escape already seemed utterly impossible. So why had her father pushed her into the pool as well? That shove, where was the fatherly affection in that? This was certainly no slip of the hand in a fit of rage. There had to be some sinister plot, some malicious intent hidden within. The more she thought about it, the more it pained her, but the clearer it became. So many of her father’s peculiar words and deeds, which she had once found baffling and had explained away as mere “eccentricity,” now seemed to stem entirely from this single word: fear. But why would he fear his own flesh and blood, his own daughter? That was something she could never fathom.

By now, chaos reigned in the crocodile pool. The pack was busy tearing apart and devouring the dead crocodile, and for the moment they did not attack the rock again. Yang Guo saw her staring blankly, lost in thought, and asked, “Could it be that you accidentally stumbled upon some dark secret of your father’s?” Lü’e shook her head. “No. Father’s conduct is upright and proper, and he handles affairs with fairness. Everyone in the valley, high and low, holds him in the deepest respect. Today, the way he treated you was truly wrong, but he has never before done anything so perverse and unreasonable.” Yang Guo knew nothing of the Passionless Valley¹⁴’s past, so he could hardly help her guess.

The crocodile pool lay deep beneath the earth, cold as an ice cave. Both of them were soaked through, and the chill pierced to the bone. Yang Guo had trained his neili on the Cold Jade Bed and did not mind the cold in the slightest.¹⁵ But Lü’e was shivering uncontrollably and pressed herself against Yang Guo’s chest for warmth. Yang Guo knew she was cold. He tightened his left arm slightly, drawing her into his embrace, and thought that this girl, whose life hung by a thread, must be both sorrowful and terrified. He wanted to say a few light-hearted words to cheer her up, but seeing the crocodiles in the pool tearing at their prey, those enormous mouths, those razor-sharp teeth, their forms utterly hideous and savage, he instead laughed and said, “Miss Gongsun, if you and I both die today, what would you like to be reborn as in your next life? As for creatures as ugly as these crocodiles, I would refuse, no matter what.”

Lü’e smiled faintly. “You should be reborn as a narcissus flower, so beautiful, so fragrant, beloved by all who see it.” Yang Guo laughed. “If anyone deserves to be a narcissus, it is someone like you. As for me, if I’m not a morning glory, I’ll be a cow-dung daisy.”¹⁶ Lü’e laughed. “If King Yama asked you to become a passion flower, would you do it?”¹⁷

Yang Guo fell silent, filled with regret. If Gugu and I had used the Pure-hearted Jade Maiden Swordplay together, that villainous Valley Master would never have been our match. He was already on the ground, beaten, begging for mercy. We should not have been so soft-hearted and spared his life. And then, thinking of returning to the ancient tomb, our hearts bloomed with such joy, and that was when the Passion Flower poison flared up. Ah, this too must be the will of Heaven. There is nothing more to be said. But I wonder how Gugu is right now. The moment his thoughts turned to Xiaolongnü, all the wounds on his body began to ache dully once more.

Lü’e, getting no reply, knew she should not have mentioned the passion flower. She hurriedly changed the subject and said, “Brother Yang, you can see the crocodiles, but before my eyes everything is pitch black. I can see nothing at all.” Yang Guo laughed. “The crocodiles’ faces are hideous enough. You’re better off not seeing them.” He patted her gently on the shoulder to comfort her. When she had been cold, he had held her close, wanting only to stop her shivering. His hand had touched her smooth, supple skin, but in the urgency of the moment, he had thought nothing of it. Now, with his mind somewhat settled, that pat on her shoulder, his hand meeting cold, soft flesh, made him suddenly realise that when she had disrobed in the Alchemy Chamber to show her father, she had been left in nothing but her innermost undergarments. Her shoulders and arms were entirely bare. Yang Guo gave a start of surprise and hastily withdrew his hand. Lü’e, realising that he could see in the dark and that he had surely taken in every detail of her half-naked state, could not help but cry, “Ah-yo!” Her body instinctively drew away from him a little.

Yang Guo shifted slightly farther away, removed his long gown, and draped it over her. As he undressed, his thoughts turned not only to Xiaolongnü but also to Cheng Ying¹⁸, who had sewn this very gown for him, and to Lu Wushuang¹⁹, who had been willing to die in his place. He reproached himself, in this life, he had received far too much kindness from beautiful women and had no way to repay them. He could not hold back a long sigh.

Lü’e adjusted the gown’s sleeves and tied the sash. Suddenly, she felt a small bundle in the pocket of Yang Guo’s gown. She reached in, took it out, and handed it to him. “What is this? Do you need it?” Yang Guo took it. It felt heavy in his hand. “What is it?” he asked. Lü’e laughed. “It’s from your own pocket. Why ask me?” Yang Guo peered closely at it. It was a small bundle wrapped in coarse cloth, something he had never seen before. He opened it at once, and a light suddenly gleamed before his eyes. Inside were four items. One of them was a small dagger, its hilt set with a pearl the size of a longan seed that emitted a soft, glowing light, illuminating Gongsun Lü’e’s lovely face.²⁰ He thought, I have heard that there is a treasure in this world called a luminous pearl, which shines of its own accord in the darkness. This must be one.

Lü’e suddenly cried out, “Yi!” She reached into the bundle and drew out a small jadeite bottle. “This is the Passion Severing Pill!” she exclaimed.²¹ Yang Guo was both startled and overjoyed. “Is this the pill that can cure the Passion Flower’s poison?”

Lü’e shook the bottle and felt something inside. Delighted, she said, “Yes! I searched the Alchemy Chamber for so long and couldn’t find it. How did you end up with it? How did you get it? Why haven’t you taken it? You didn’t know it was the Passion Severing Pill, did you?” In her joy, her questions tumbled out one after another, giving Yang Guo no chance to answer. Yang Guo scratched his head. “I had no idea at all. This… this bottle of pills, how did it end up in my pocket? This is truly bizarre.”

By the soft glow of the luminous pearl on the dagger’s hilt, Lü’e could now see the things around her clearly. Besides the dagger and the jadeite bottle containing the Passion Severing Pill, the bundle also held a piece of sheepskin about seven or eight cun square and half a stalk of lingzhi fungus.²² A thought stirred in her mind. “This half stalk of lingzhi, that was snapped off by Old Urchin.” Yang Guo said, “Old Urchin?” Lü’e said, “Yes. This lingzhi was originally growing in a white jade pot in the Fungus Chamber. Old Urchin rampaged through the four chambers, the Library, the Sword Chamber, the Alchemy Chamber, and the Fungus Chamber, destroying books, stealing swords, kicking over furnaces, and breaking the lingzhi. He did all of it.”²³ Yang Guo suddenly understood and cried out, “That’s it! That’s it!” Lü’e asked quickly, “What is it?”

Yang Guo said, “This bundle was placed on me by Senior Zhou.” By now he knew that Zhou Botong²⁴ had been secretly helping him, so he had changed his form of address from “Old Urchin” to “Senior Zhou.” Lü’e had also mostly figured it out. She said, “So he was the one who gave it to you.” Yang Guo said, “No. This senior of the jianghu²⁵ roams the human realm like an immortal playing his games. His methods are ghostly and unfathomable. When he took my human-skin mask and my great shears, I had no idea. And when he placed this bundle in my pocket, I felt nothing at all. Ah, compared to his abilities, I cannot even measure up to half.”²⁶ Lü’e nodded. “That’s right. Father said he had stolen vital items from the valley and had to be stopped at all costs. Yet he… he stripped off all his clothes in front of everyone, and there was nothing hidden on his body.” Yang Guo laughed. “He stripped himself stark naked and fooled even the Valley Master. So the bundle had already been placed in my pocket all along.”

Lü’e pulled out the jade stopper from the jadeite bottle, cupped her left palm, and gently tipped the bottle, pouring the pill inside into her palm. Out rolled a pill perfectly square, like a die, deep black in colour, giving off a pungent, fishy odour. Most pills were round for ease of swallowing. If they were medicinal lozenges, they might be rectangular and flat. But a square pill like this. Yang Guo had never seen one before. He took it from Lü’e’s palm and examined it carefully. Lü’e shook the bottle a few more times, then turned it upside down and tapped it against her palm. “That’s all,” she said. “Just this one. Take it quickly. Don’t drop it into the pool, that would be disastrous.”

Yang Guo was about to put the pill in his mouth when he heard her say “just this one” and froze. “Only one? Does your father have any more?” he asked. Lü’e said, “It’s precisely because there’s only one that it’s so precious. Otherwise, why would Father be so furious?” Yang Guo was greatly alarmed. His voice trembled. “In that case, my Gugu’s entire body is also poisoned by the Passion Flower. What means does your father have to save her?”

Lü’e sighed. “I once heard Eldest Senior Brother say that the valley originally had many Passion Severing Pills. Later, for some reason, only one remained. And this pill is exceedingly difficult to compound, the various rare medicinal ingredients simply cannot all be gathered. That is why Eldest Senior Brother repeatedly warned everyone to guard carefully against the Passion Flower’s deadly poison. A small prick from a thorn will heal on its own after a few days, that is nothing to worry about. But once the poison runs deep, it places the Valley Master in a difficult position, because one pill can only save one person.” Yang Guo cried “Ah-yo!” repeatedly and said, “Why hasn’t your father come to rescue you yet?”

Lü’e understood his meaning at once. She watched him return the pill to the bottle and gave a soft sigh. “Brother Yang, your devotion to Miss Long is so deep, how could my father not feel ashamed before you? You are only hoping that I will carry the Passion Severing Pill back up with me, so that it can save Miss Long’s life.”

Yang Guo, having his thoughts read, smiled faintly. “I do hope that a kind-hearted girl like you can escape this peril safely. And I also hope to save my Gugu’s life. Even if I were cured of the Passion Flower poison, trapped in this crocodile pool I would die anyway. Naturally, saving my Gugu is what matters most.” He thought, Gugu is beautiful beyond compare. That Gongsun Valley Master wanting to take her as his wife could, in a sense, be called only human. But when she refused to marry him, he lured her to the Sword Chamber to take her life, his intentions were already vicious to the extreme. And knowing that the only Passion Severing Pill had been stolen, knowing that the Passion Flower poison in Gugu’s body cannot be cured and that she has only thirty-six days to live, he still insists on forcing her to yield to him. I fear the crocodiles in this pool have better consciences than he does.

Lü’e knew that no matter how earnestly she urged him to take the medicine, it would be useless. She deeply regretted having told him there was only one pill. She said, “This lingzhi, though it cannot neutralise the poison, has great power to strengthen the body and fortify the constitution. Take it quickly.” Yang Guo said, “Very well.” He split the half-stalk of lingzhi into two pieces, ate one himself, and brought the other to Lü’e’s lips. “Who knows when your father will come to release you,” he said. “Eat this to ward off the cold.” Lü’e, seeing his sincere attentiveness, could not bear to refuse, and opened her mouth to take it.

This lingzhi had already grown for several hundred years. After the two swallowed it, it was not long before they felt a warmth spreading through their limbs and bones, wonderfully comfortable. Their spirits lifted, and their minds grew sharper as well. Lü’e suddenly said, “Old Urchin stole the Passion Severing Pill. Father certainly knew that long ago. When he said he would cure your injury, he was deceiving Miss Long. And even when he forced me to hand over the pill, that too was nothing but pretence.”

Yang Guo had long since thought of this, but he had not wanted to add to her grief and had kept silent. Now, hearing her arrive at the same conclusion, he said, “After your father brings you back up, you must be extremely careful in the future. It would be best if you could find a way to leave the valley and see something of the outside world.” Lü’e sighed. “Ah, you do not know my father’s character. Since he pushed me into the crocodile pool, he will never change his mind and release me. He already feared me to begin with. After what has happened, how could he possibly allow me to live? Brother Yang, won’t you let me stay and die with you?”

Yang Guo was about to offer some words of comfort when yet another crocodile slowly crawled onto the rock, its forelegs nearly touching the sheepskin that had fallen from the bundle. A thought struck Yang Guo. Let me take a look at this sheepskin and see what mystery it holds. He raised the dagger and drove it between the crocodile’s eyes. Thunk, the blade sank in effortlessly. This dagger was a peerless sharp edge that could slice through metal and jade as if they were mud. The crocodile thrashed a few times, tumbled into the pool belly-up, and died. Yang Guo said happily, “Now that we have this dagger, the fortunes of our crocodile friends in this pool are about to take a turn for the worse.” He picked up the sheepskin in his left hand and brought the dagger hilt close with his right, studying the skin intently by the faint glow of the luminous pearl. One side of the sheepskin was rough and showed nothing unusual. Turning it over, he saw many drawings of buildings, mountains, and rocks.

Yang Guo looked at it for a while but found nothing remarkable. “This sheepskin is nothing important,” he said. Lü’e had been watching beside his shoulder all along. Suddenly, she said, “This is a diagram of our Passionless Valley’s Narcissus Manor. Look, this is the stream you entered by, this is the great hall, this is the Sword Chamber, this is the Fungus Chamber, this is the Alchemy Chamber…” As she spoke, she pointed at the diagram. Yang Guo suddenly let out a surprised “Yi!” and said, “Look, look.” He pointed at some wavy lines drawn beneath the Alchemy Chamber. Lü’e said, “That is the crocodile pool. Ah… and there is a passage here.”

When the two saw that a passage was drawn beside the crocodile pool, their spirits immediately soared. Yang Guo compared the diagram to the actual layout of the pool and said, “If this diagram is accurate, then following this passage should lead to another way out. Only…” Lü’e finished his thought. “The strange thing is, this passage slopes downward the entire way. The crocodile pool is already deep beneath the earth, if it slopes further down, where does it lead?” The passage on the diagram ended at the edge of the sheepskin, cutting off before showing where it led.

Yang Guo said, “Has your father or Eldest Senior Brother ever spoken of this crocodile pool?” Lü’e shook her head. “Until today, I never knew that so many terrifying creatures lurked beneath the Alchemy Chamber. I fear even Eldest Senior Brother is unaware. But… but to keep so many crocodiles, someone must feed them regularly. I don’t know why Father would…” Thinking of her father’s viciousness, she could not stop trembling.

Yang Guo surveyed the surroundings. Behind the rock, there was a patch of deep, dark shadow that seemed like the entrance to a passage, but it was too far away to see clearly. He thought, Even if this truly is a passage, who knows what savage monsters might be kept inside? Meeting them could be even more dangerous. But we cannot simply sit here waiting for death. Since we are doomed either way, we might as well risk our lives seeking a way out. If I can bring Miss Gongsun to safety and deliver the Passion Severing Pill into Gugu’s mouth, that will be enough. He handed the dagger to Lü’e and said, “I’ll go take a look. Watch out for crocodiles.” With a push of his left foot against the rock, he had already flown out over the pool. Lü’e cried out in alarm. Yang Guo landed his right foot on the belly of a dead crocodile, used the rebound to leap up again, then touched his left foot down on the back of another crocodile. The beast sank straight to the bottom of the pool, but Yang Guo had already reached the opposite bank. Pressing himself against the rock face, he reached back with his hand and called out, “There really is a large cave here!”

Gongsun Lü’e’s qinggong was far inferior to his. She dared not leap across in the same manner. Yang Guo thought that if he went back to carry her, their combined weight would not only make the leap difficult but would also be too much for the crocodiles to support. At this point, he had no choice but to risk it all. He called out, “Miss Gongsun, soak the long gown in the water and throw it over!” Lü’e did not understand his intention, but she did as he said. She removed the gown, soaked it in the pool water, quickly pulled it up, tied two knots in it to form a ball, and called, “Here it comes!” She threw it across with all her strength.

Yang Guo caught it, untied the knots, and found a foothold on the rock wall. Gripping a protruding edge of rock firmly with his left hand, he swung the soaked gown with his right and said, “Listen carefully for the sound.” He sent the gown lashing forward, then snapped it back with a flick of his wrist. Pak, the gown struck the cave opening. He struck three times and asked, “Do you know where the cave mouth is now?” Lü’e, tracing the shape by the sound, had grasped the distance and direction. “I know,” she said. Yang Guo said, “Jump up and grab the gown. I’ll pull you across.”

Lü’e strained to open her eyes as wide as she could, but everything before her remained an impenetrable blackness. She was deeply afraid. “I don’t… I…” she stammered. Yang Guo said, “Don’t be afraid. If you miss the gown and fall into the pool, I will jump in and save you at once. We weren’t afraid of the crocodiles before, now that we have this dagger that cuts through iron like mud, what is there to fear?” With a whoosh, he swung the gown across.

Gongsun Lü’e gritted her teeth. Bracing both feet against the rock, she propelled herself into the air. Listening for the sound of the gown cutting through the air, she shot out both hands. Her right hand caught the hem of the gown, but her left hand grasped empty air. Yang Guo felt the weight settle on his arm. With a sharp snap of his wrist, he swung Lü’e toward the cave mouth. Afraid she would lose her footing, he leaped after her the instant he released the gown and placed a gentle hand beneath her waist, lifting her to sit securely at the cave’s edge.

Gongsun Lü’e was overjoyed. “It worked!” she cried. “That was a brilliant idea.” Yang Guo laughed. “Who knows what strange poisonous creatures or savage beasts might be lurking in this cave. We can only resign ourselves to the will of Heaven.” He bent down and crawled into the cave. Lü’e handed him the dagger. “You take it,” she said. She took the gown Yang Guo passed back to her and put it on.

The cave mouth was extremely narrow. The two could only advance on hands and knees. Moisture from the crocodile pool had seeped through the cave, making it damp and slippery, and the reek of decay was nauseating. As Yang Guo crawled, he laughed and said, “This morning, you and I were admiring the passion flowers together beneath the morning sun, the mountainside a riot of colour, birds singing, flowers fragrant. Barely a few hours later, we have ended up in a place like this. I have truly dragged you into terrible trouble.” Lü’e said, “How could any of this be blamed on you?”

After crawling for some time, the tunnel gradually widened until they could stand and walk upright. They walked for a long while, yet the end never came, though the ground grew flatter and flatter. Yang Guo laughed. “Aha, it seems our suffering is over and we are entering more pleasant territory.” Lü’e sighed. “Brother Yang, if your heart is heavy, you needn’t force yourself to amuse me…” Before she could finish, a great burst of laughter suddenly rang out from the left: “Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha!”

These were unmistakably the sounds of laughter, yet they sounded exactly like wailing. The noise went “ha ha, ha ha,” but the tone was unspeakably bleak and sorrowful. In all their lives, neither Yang Guo nor Lü’e had ever heard such a sound, a cry that was not crying, a laugh that was not laughing. And to hear it suddenly, without any warning, in this pitch-black tunnel, was more terrifying than encountering the most vicious poisonous snake or savage beast. Yang Guo, for all his boldness, could not help but leap up in fright, smashing his head painfully against the tunnel ceiling. Gongsun Lü’e was so terrified that cold sweat drenched her entire body and every hair stood on end. She threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

The two truly did not know what to do. They dared not advance, yet they could not bear to retreat. Lü’e whispered, “Is it a ghost?” Her voice was barely audible, but the voice on the left responded at once with another burst of wailing laughter: “That’s right, I’m a ghost, I’m a ghost, ha ha, ha ha!” Lü’e’s arms tightened around Yang Guo’s neck even more fiercely. She dared not let go. Yang Guo also put his arm around her waist to comfort her.

He thought, Since she calls herself a ghost, she is no ghost. He declared in a clear voice, “My name is Yang Guo. Miss Gongsun and I have met with disaster and seek only to escape with our lives. We bear no ill will toward anyone…” The person suddenly interrupted, “Miss Gongsun? What Miss Gongsun?” Yang Guo said, “The daughter of Gongsun Valley Master. Gongsun Lü’e.” At this, utter silence fell on the other side, as though the person had suddenly vanished without a trace.

When that voice, half crying, half laughing, had rung out, the two had already been terrified beyond measure. Now, with the sudden descent into dead silence, the darkness felt more horrifying than ever. They clung to each other, not daring to speak or move. Lü’e, pressed against Yang Guo, trembled without ceasing.

After a long while, the person suddenly barked, “What Gongsun Valley Master? Is it Gongsun Zhi?” The voice was filled with fury, but it was clearly a woman’s voice now. Lü’e summoned her courage and answered, “My father’s given name is indeed the single character Zhi.²⁷ Might the elder know my father?” The woman gave a cold, mirthless laugh. “Do I know him? Heh heh, do I know him?” Lü’e dared not reply and could only remain silent. After another long pause, the voice barked again, “What is your name?” Lü’e said, “This junior’s humble name is Lü’e. lü as in green, e as in the calyx of a flower.” The woman gave a contemptuous snort and asked, “What year, what month, what day, and at what hour were you born?”

Lü’e thought, Why would this strange person ask for the eight characters of my birth? She probably means to use them for some sorcery to harm me. She whispered in Yang Guo’s ear, “Should I tell her?” Before Yang Guo could answer, the woman sneered, “You were born in the jiashen year, on the third day of the second month, at the xu hour. Am I right?”²⁸ Lü’e was stunned. She cried out, “You… you… how do you know?”

Suddenly, an indescribable strange feeling surged through her heart. She knew with absolute certainty that this strange person in the cave would never harm her. Breaking free from Yang Guo’s side, she rushed forward. She rounded two bends, and suddenly a dazzling light blazed before her eyes. There, sitting cross-legged on the ground, was a half-naked, bald-headed old woman. Her face was stern and solemn, radiating an awe-inspiring authority.

Lü’e gasped “Ah!” He stood frozen in place. Yang Guo, fearing for her safety, hurried in after her.

The spot where the old woman sat was a natural cavern, its depths vanishing into endless darkness. Overhead, a great circular opening about a zhang in diameter admitted sunlight from above, though the opening was more than a hundred zhang from the cavern floor. The old woman had most likely fallen through this hole by accident and had never been able to get out. This cavern lay deep beneath the earth, even if one shouted at the top of one’s lungs, anyone passing overhead might not hear. But how she had survived a fall from such a height was truly a mystery. Yang Guo saw that within the reach of the sunlight, many large jujube trees had grown. Had she happened to land in a tree and thus survived? He noticed that she covered her body with nothing but bark and leaves. She must have been in this cavern for many years, her clothes had long since rotted away entirely.

The old woman looked at Yang Guo as if he did not exist. Her gaze swept up and down, taking in only Lü’e. Suddenly, she gave a mournful smile. “Girl, you are so beautiful,” she said. Lü’e returned the smile, stepped forward, and curtsied deeply in greeting. “Elder, how do you do?”

The old woman threw her head back and laughed, that sound, still more like weeping than laughter. “Elder? Ha ha, I am well, I am well, ha ha, ha ha!” Toward the end, her face was filled with rage. Lü’e had no idea how a simple greeting could have offended her. Her heart fluttered with unease, and she turned to Yang Guo for help. Yang Guo thought that anyone trapped in this cavern for so long was bound to have lost their sanity, which was hardly surprising. He shook his head at Lü’e with a faint smile, signalling her not to take it to heart, while he himself studied the terrain, trying to figure out how to climb out. Though the opening overhead was high, with his qinggong, it might not be impossible to risk the ascent.

Lü’e, however, was completely focused on the old woman. She saw that her hair was sparse, almost entirely bald, and her face was covered in deep wrinkles, yet her eyes gleamed with fierce vitality. The old woman, in turn, stared unblinkingly at Lü’e. The two looked at each other, and each other only, leaving Yang Guo completely ignored to one side. After studying her for a while, the old woman suddenly asked, “How old are you this year?” Lü’e said, “I am eighteen this year.” The old woman sighed deeply. “Eighteen already. You have a cinnabar birthmark on the left side of your waist, don’t you?”

Lü’e was shocked once again. She thought, Even my father may not know about this red mark on my body. How can this old woman, hidden deep beneath the earth, know it so clearly? And she knows my birth hour as well. She must have an extremely close connection to my family. Softening her voice, she asked, “Granny, you must certainly know my father, and you must have known my mother, who has passed away. Am I right?” The old woman started. “Your mother, who has passed away? Ha ha, of course I know her.” Suddenly, her voice turned harsh and severe. “Do you have that red mark on your waist or not? Unfasten your clothes and show me at once. If you speak even half a word of falsehood, I will strike you dead where you stand.”

Lü’e turned and glanced at Yang Guo, her cheeks flushing crimson. Yang Guo hurriedly turned away, putting his back to her. Lü’e loosened the long gown, lifted her inner garment, and revealed her snow-white, crystalline waist. There indeed was a cinnabar-red birthmark the size of a thumb, the red against the white like a red plum blossom blooming in the snow, exceptionally lovely.

The old woman took only one look, and her entire body began to tremble. Tears welled up in her eyes. Suddenly, she threw her arms wide and cried, “My darling, my precious treasure! Your mother has missed you so bitterly.” Lü’e, seeing the expression on her face, felt her own natural feelings surge forth. She rushed forward and threw herself upon the old woman, crying, “Mama! Mama!”

Yang Guo heard one call out “precious treasure” and the other cry “Mama,” and he was greatly astonished. He turned around and saw the two locked in a tight embrace. Lü’e’s back heaved with sobs, and the old woman’s face was streaked with tears and mucus. He thought, Can it be that this old woman is Miss Gongsun’s mother?

He watched as the old woman’s eyebrows suddenly shot upright, her face taking on a murderous expression, exactly the same look Gongsun Valley Master wore when he struck. Yang Guo cried to himself, This is bad. He stepped forward, afraid she might harm Lü’e, but instead saw her place a hand on Lü’e’s shoulder and push her gently away. “Stand back,” she commanded. “I have questions for you.” Lü’e started, drew back from her, and called again, “Mama!”

The old woman said sternly, “Did Gongsun Zhi send you here? Did he tell you to use sweet words and cunning speech to deceive me? Is that it?” Lü’e shook her head and cried, “Mama, so you are still alive! Mama!” The look on her face was equal parts joy and sorrow. This was unmistakably the genuine emotion between a mother and daughter. How could there be the slightest falsehood in it? Yet the old woman still demanded harshly, “Gongsun Zhi told you I was dead, didn’t he?” Lü’e said, “Your daughter has suffered for more than ten years, believing herself to be a motherless orphan. To think that Mama has been alive all this time, today I am truly happy.” The old woman pointed at Yang Guo. “Who is he? Why did you bring him here?”

Lü’e said, “Mama, listen to me.” She told the story from beginning to end, how Yang Guo had entered Passionless Valley, how he had been poisoned by the Passion Flower, how the two of them had fallen into the crocodile pool together. She only left out entirely the matter of Gongsun Valley Master wanting to marry Xiaolongnü, for fear of stirring up her mother’s jealousy and rage.

Wherever Lü’e’s account grew vague, the old woman pressed her with detailed questions. Aside from the matter of Xiaolongnü, Lü’e concealed nothing. The more the old woman listened, the more her expression softened. The look she directed at Yang Guo grew warmer with each glance. When she heard how Yang Guo had killed the crocodiles and how he had protected Lü’e, the old woman nodded repeatedly. “Good, very good!” she said. “Young man, it seems my daughter was not wrong to set her sights on you.” Lü’e’s face flushed deep red, and she lowered her head.

Yang Guo thought that the various complications in all this were not something to be sorted out right now. He said, “Auntie Gongsun, first we must devise a plan for how to get out.” The old woman’s face suddenly darkened. She barked, “What ‘Auntie Gongsun’? Those three words, ‘Auntie Gongsun’, you are never to utter again. Do not think that because my hands and feet are powerless, I cannot kill you as easily as turning over my palm.” Suddenly, with a po sound, something shot from her mouth. Zheng, it struck the blade of the dagger Yang Guo was holding.

Yang Guo felt a violent jolt run through his arm. His five fingers could not maintain their grip. Clang, the dagger fell to the ground. Shocked, he leaped backward and saw that beside the dagger lay a jujube pit, still spinning furiously on the ground.²⁹ He was shaken and uncertain. He thought, With the force of my grip on that dagger, even the Imperial Preceptor’s golden wheel, Da’erba³⁰’s golden pestle, or Gongsun Valley Master’s serrated golden sabre could not have knocked it from my hand. Yet this old woman spat out a single jujube pit and disarmed me. Granted, I was not on guard, but this person’s martial skill is truly profound beyond measure.³¹

Lü’e, seeing the change in his expression, said hurriedly, “Brother Yang, my mother would never harm you.” She walked over, took his hand, and turned to her mother. “Mama, just tell him what he should call you, that’s all. He doesn’t know, after all.”

The old woman gave a cold laugh. “Fine. This old woman has never changed her surname, never changed her given name. In the rivers and lakes, they call me ‘Iron Palm Lotus’ Qiu Qianchi³²³³. And what should you call me? Heh heh, shouldn’t you kneel and kowtow, and address me as ‘Mother-in-Law’?”

Lü’e said hastily, “Mama, you don’t understand. Brother Yang and your daughter are pure and innocent. He… he has shown your daughter nothing but goodwill and has no other intentions.” Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “Hmph! Pure and innocent? No other intentions? Where are your clothes? Why are you wearing only your undergarments and wrapped in his gown?” Suddenly raising her voice to a shriek, she said, “If this Yang fellow plans to learn from that faithless, shameless wretch Gongsun Zhi, I will make sure he dies without a burial place. Yang, are you going to marry my daughter or not?”

Yang Guo thought her words were growing more deranged by the moment. She was utterly unreasonable, how could she pressure him to marry her daughter after just a few words of conversation? But if he bluntly refused, he would embarrass Lü’e terribly on the spot. Besides, this old woman’s martial skill was extremely high and her temper strange. If he gave the wrong answer, she might try to kill him at once. Right now, with all three of them trapped together in this cavern, the most important thing was to find a way out. So he smiled faintly and said, “Elder, please set your mind at ease. Miss Gongsun risked her life to save me. Yang Guo is no heartless man. This grace, this virtue. I shall never dare forget it as long as I live.” These words were extremely slippery. They did not agree to marry Lü’e, yet to Qiu Qianchi’s ears they sounded entirely agreeable. She nodded. “That is as it should be.”

Gongsun Lü’e naturally understood Yang Guo’s true feelings. She looked at him, her gaze filled with quiet reproach, and lowered her head in silence. After a long pause, she said to Qiu Qianchi, “Mama, how did you come to be here? Why did Father say you had passed away, causing your daughter to grieve for more than ten years? If your daughter had known you were here, she would have risked her very life to come find you long ago.” Seeing her mother half-naked above the waist, she thought that if she gave Yang Guo’s gown to her mother, she herself would be improperly dressed. So she tore off the front and back panels of the gown and draped them over her mother’s shoulders.

Yang Guo thought of how the gown Cheng Ying had sewn, which Xiaolongnü had also mended, had met such a fate. A pang of sorrow struck his heart, and the Passion Flower poison was stirred. Agonising pain once again seized his entire body. Qiu Qianchi saw this and her expression flickered. Her right hand, trembling, reached into her bosom as if to retrieve something. But on second thought, she drew her hand out empty.

Lü’e had caught a hint of meaning in her mother’s expression and movements. She pleaded, “Mama, this Passion Flower poison in Brother Yang’s body, can you find a way to cure it?” Qiu Qianchi said flatly, “Trapped here, I cannot even save myself. If others cannot save me, how could I save anyone else?” Lü’e said urgently, “Mama, if you save Brother Yang, he will naturally save you. Even if you don’t save him, Brother Yang will certainly do his utmost to help you. Brother Yang, isn’t that right?”

Yang Guo truly had no fondness for this perverse and eccentric Qiu Qianchi, but thinking of Lü’e, he felt he ought to do everything in his power to help. He said, “Naturally. Elder, you have been here a long time. You must be thoroughly familiar with the terrain. Could you enlighten us?”

Qiu Qianchi let out a long sigh. “Though this place is deep beneath the earth, getting out is not difficult.” She glanced at Yang Guo. “In your heart, you must be thinking, if it is not difficult to get out, why have I stayed here, withering away? Ah, the tendons in my hands and feet were severed long ago. All the martial skill in my body is gone.” Yang Guo had already noticed that the movements of her hands and feet were strange. Lü’e, however, was greatly shocked. She asked, “Were you injured falling through that hole up there?” Qiu Qianchi said darkly, “No! Someone did this to me.” Lü’e was even more shocked. Her voice trembling, she asked, “Mama, who harmed you? We must certainly seek revenge.”

Qiu Qianchi laughed coldly. “Revenge? Could you bring yourself to do it? The one who severed the tendons in my hands and feet was Gongsun Zhi.” From the moment Lü’e had realised this woman was her mother, a faint premonition of this had already stirred in her heart. But to hear it spoken from her mother’s own lips, still, her entire body shook violently. “Wh-why?” she asked.

Qiu Qianchi cast a cold glance at Yang Guo and said, “Because I killed a person, a young, beautiful woman. Hmph, because I killed the woman Gongsun Zhi loved.” As she spoke, her teeth ground together audibly. Lü’e was frightened and drew slightly away from her mother, edging closer to Yang Guo instead. For a time, dead silence filled the cavern.

Qiu Qianchi suddenly said, “You must be hungry. In this cavern, there are only jujubes to fill the belly.” With that, she dropped to all fours and crawled forward like a wild beast, moving with surprising speed. As Lü’e and Yang Guo watched, both felt a pang of sorrow. Qiu Qianchi had crawled like this for over ten years and no longer thought anything of it. Lü’e was about to rush forward to help her up when she saw her mother already crouched beneath a large jujube tree.

Who knows in what year or what month the wind had carried a single jujube down through the hole in the ceiling? It had taken root in the earth of this cavern, sent up a shoot, and grown. It had bloomed, borne fruit, and gradually multiplied, until there were now some fifty or sixty trees, large and small. If that single jujube had not fallen all those years ago, or if it had fallen but failed to grow into a tree, then when Yang Guo and Gongsun Lü’e arrived in this cavern, they would have found only a heap of white bones. Who could have imagined that those bones had once belonged to an extraordinary figure of the jianghu? And Lü’e, of course, would never have known they were her own birth mother.

Qiu Qianchi picked up a jujube pit from the ground, placed it in her mouth, tilted her head back, and expelled a breath. The pit shot several zhang into the air and struck a branch dead on. The branch shook violently, and jujubes rained down by the dozens.

Yang Guo nodded to himself, thinking, So it was because the tendons in her hands and feet were severed that she was forced to develop this extraordinary skill of spitting jujube pits. Truly, Heaven never bars all paths. How true that is. At this thought, his spirits lifted.

Lü’e gathered the jujubes and shared them with her mother and Yang Guo, eating a few herself. In this subterranean cavern, she served her guest and attended to her mother with graceful, orderly manners, every inch the image of a young mistress of the house.

Qiu Qianchi had suffered the most extreme tragedy a person can endure, and the resentment and hatred accumulated in her heart for over a decade would have turned even the gentlest, most agreeable person into someone utterly unreasonable, let alone one whose nature was already irascible. But the bond between mother and daughter is, after all, a matter of nature. Seeing the daughter she had longed for day and night grown into such a radiant, graceful, and well-mannered young woman, her tender, loving feelings gradually gained the upper hand. She asked, “What terrible things did Gongsun Zhi say about me?”

Lü’e said, “Father never spoke of Mama at all. When I was little, I once asked him whether I looked like Mama. I also asked what illness Mama had died of. Father suddenly flew into a great rage and scolded me fiercely, ordering me never to mention it again. A few years later, I asked once more, and again he sternly rebuked me.” Qiu Qianchi said, “Then what did you think?” Tears rolled in Lü’e’s eyes. “I always thought that Mama must have been both beautiful and gentle, and that Father loved you so deeply that whenever anyone mentioned you after you were gone, he was overcome with grief. So later, I never dared ask again.”

Qiu Qianchi laughed coldly. “Now you must be terribly disappointed. Your mother is neither beautiful nor gentle, but a fierce, venomous, ugly old crone. If I’d known, I imagine you would rather have never met me at all.” Lü’e threw her arms around her mother’s neck and said softly, “Mama, you are exactly as I always imagined you.” She turned to Yang Guo. “Brother Yang, my mother is beautiful, isn’t she? She treats me well, and she treats you well too, doesn’t she?” These two questions were spoken with the utmost sincerity. In her heart, she truly believed her mother was the finest woman in the world.

Yang Guo thought, Perhaps she was beautiful in her youth, but now, what ‘beautiful’ is there to speak of? She may treat you well enough, but toward me, I doubt she harbours any good intentions. But since Lü’e had asked, he had no choice but to answer, “Yes, you are right.” However, the tone of his words was far less sincere than Lü’e’s, and Qiu Qianchi caught it at once. She thought, Heaven has pitied me and let me meet my daughter again. Today, her heart is filled with a child’s devotion, but who can guarantee it will always be so? I must tell her the full story of my unjust suffering, clearly and completely. So she said, “E’er, you asked why I am trapped here, and why Gongsun Zhi said I was dead. Sit down properly, and I will tell you everything slowly.”

Qiu Qianchi began slowly, “Gongsun Zhi’s ancestors served as officials during the Tang Dynasty. Later, to escape the An-Shi Rebellion, the entire clan moved to this secluded valley.³⁴ His ancestors were military officers, and he learned their family martial arts. It could certainly be said that he surpassed his predecessors, but the truly superior martial skills, those were taught by me.” Yang Guo and Lü’e both let out an “Ah!” of surprise, neither having expected this.

Qiu Qianchi said proudly, “You are both young. Naturally, you do not understand the reasons behind this. Hmph, the chief of the Iron Palm Clan, ‘Iron Palm Floats on Water’ Qiu Qianren, he is my own elder brother.³⁵ Yang Guo, tell E’er something about the Iron Palm Clan.”

Yang Guo started. “Iron Palm Clan? This disciple is ignorant and ill-informed. I truly do not know what the Iron Palm Clan is.”

Qiu Qianchi burst out cursing. “You little brat, lying to my face! The Iron Palm Clan’s mighty name shook the lands north and south of the Great River. It was one of the two great clans of the jianghu, alongside the Beggar’s Sect. How could you not know?” Yang Guo said, “The Beggar’s Sect, this junior has heard of that. But the Iron Palm Clan…” Qiu Qianchi grew frantic and cursed, “Heh heh, and you call yourself a student of the martial arts, not even knowing the Iron Palm Clan…” Lü’e, seeing her mother’s face turn red with fury, interjected to placate her. “Mama, Brother Yang is not yet twenty. He grew up training in the deep mountains with his shifu. It is hardly surprising that he does not know much about the affairs of the jianghu.” Qiu Qianchi ignored her and continued muttering angrily to herself.

Twenty years ago, the Iron Palm Clan had indeed been tremendously powerful and influential in the rivers and lakes. But during the second Mount Hua Tournament, the clan chief, Iron Palm Floats on Water Qiu Qianren, had taken refuge in the Buddha’s teachings and become a disciple of the Great Master Yideng.³⁶ The Iron Palm Clan had immediately scattered like clouds before the wind. When the clan disbanded, Yang Guo had just been born, and no one had ever mentioned it to him afterward, naturally, he knew nothing of it. In truth, his own mother, Mu Nianci, had lost her virtue to his father, Yang Kang³⁷, right there on Iron Palm Peak, the clan’s headquarters, and it was from that encounter that she had conceived him and brought him into this world. Now, when Qiu Qianchi spoke of it, Yang Guo could only stare blankly, not knowing what to say. Qiu Qianchi had been secluded in Passionless Valley for over twenty years and had heard nothing of the changes in the jianghu. She assumed that the Iron Palm Clan, having dominated for centuries, must now be even more prosperous than ever. All her life, she had taken the greatest pride in her second brother, Qiu Qianren, the clan chief. Hearing that Yang Guo did not even know the three words “Iron Palm Clan,” she could not help but rage and storm.

Yang Guo endured her senseless tirade at first, but when her cursing grew increasingly outrageous, his anger began to rise. He was about to snap back at her with a few sharp words. He lifted his head, ready to speak, but then he saw Lü’e gazing at him, her eyes brimming with tender affection, her face full of apology. Yang Guo’s heart softened. He made a helpless expression at her, and instead, an unexpected contentment stole over him. He thought to himself, The more fiercely your mother scolds, the kinder you will be to me. An old woman’s nagging is wind past the ear, but a beauty’s tenderness is a matter of the heart. His mind at ease, his wits grew unusually sharp. Suddenly, he remembered: Wanyan Ping’s martial arts seemed to belong to the same school as Gongsun Zhi’s. And she said she had learned the Iron Palm techniques. There must be a connection to the Iron Palm Clan.³⁸ He closed his eyes and recalled. He could still remember about seventy or eighty percent of the fist techniques and sabre moves Wanyan Ping had used in her duel with Yelü Qi. As for Gongsun Zhi, he had fought him in several bouts only a few hours ago and remembered his stances and movements even more clearly. He cried out, “Ah-yo, I remember now!” Qiu Qianchi said, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “Three years ago, I saw an extraordinary martial figure fight against eighteen heroes of the rivers and lakes. He faced eighteen opponents barehanded, alone. In the end, nine of his opponents were gravely wounded, and nine were beaten to death. I heard that this extraordinary figure belonged to the Iron Palm Clan.” Qiu Qianchi asked urgently, “What did this man look like?” Yang Guo spun a tale on the spot: “He was bald, about sixty years old, with a ruddy, glowing face. He was tall and imposing, wore a green gown, and his surname was Qiu…” Qiu Qianchi suddenly barked, “Nonsense! Both my brothers were not bald, were short in stature, and never wore green clothes. You see that I am tall and bald, so you say my brothers were bald too?”

Yang Guo thought to himself, Disaster! But his expression did not change. He laughed and said, “Don’t be so hasty. I never said that man was your brother. Does every person in the world named Qiu have to be your brother?” Yang Guo had a glib tongue, and Qiu Qianchi found herself with no retort. She asked, “Then tell me, what was his martial skill like?”

Yang Guo stood up and performed several sequences of Wanyan Ping’s fist techniques, then blended in stances and palm movements from Gongsun Zhi. The more he performed, the more fluid he became. In the cavern, palm shadows drifted and fist winds roared. Though the moves were somewhat approximate, appearing right but not quite right, they were already far superior to Wanyan Ping’s original techniques. Wherever Wanyan Ping’s fist techniques had gaps and weaknesses, his body followed his intent, filling in every deficiency. His every movement, raising a hand, lifting a foot, was tight and seamless, and with each palm he chopped out, he deliberately added an extra measure of ferocity.

Qiu Qianchi watched with great delight and called out, “E’er, E’er, this is exactly our Iron Palm Clan’s skill. Watch carefully.” As Yang Guo performed, Qiu Qianchi pointed and explained, annotating the various lethal points in the fist and foot techniques. Yang Guo laughed inwardly and thought, If I keep performing, I’ll give myself away. So he stopped and said, “At that point, that extraordinary martial figure had already won a great victory and did not continue fighting.” Qiu Qianchi was extremely pleased. “You misremembered many of the moves, and your technique was off,” she said, “but to perform them to this level is already quite remarkable. In the future, I will teach you properly. What was that extraordinary figure’s name? What did he say to you?” Yang Guo said, “This extraordinary man was like a divine dragon, you see the head but not the tail. After his great victory, he drifted away into the distance. I only heard the nine wounded men lying on the ground complaining to each other, saying, ‘How dare anyone offend Old Master Qiu of the Iron Palm Clan? Wasn’t that just courting death?’”

Qiu Qianchi said delightedly, “That’s right. This man surnamed Qiu was most likely a disciple of my brother’s.” By nature, she was obsessed with the martial arts. Having been unable to stretch her hands and feet for over a decade, now, seeing Yang Guo perform her own school’s techniques, she was like a hunter catching sight of her prey, her delight was irrepressible. At once, she launched into an unstoppable lecture to the two of them on the palm techniques and qinggong of the Iron Palm School.

Yang Guo was desperate to get out of the cave and deliver the Passion Severing Pill to Xiaolongnü. Although what she was teaching was high-level martial theory, and her insights were incisive and highly beneficial to hear, whenever he thought of Xiaolongnü enduring such suffering, how could he possibly have the heart to discuss martial arts? He immediately shot Lü’e a meaningful glance. Lü’e understood and asked, “Mama, how did you come to pass on your martial arts to Father?” Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “Call him Gongsun Zhi! What ‘Father’ this and ‘Father’ that?” Lü’e said, “Yes. Mama, please continue.”

Qiu Qianchi said bitterly, “Hmph!” Only after a long pause did she continue. “It was more than twenty years ago. My two brothers had a falling out and quarrelled…” Lü’e interrupted, “I have two uncles?” Qiu Qianchi said, “You didn’t know?” Her voice turned extremely stern, heavy with reproach. Lü’e thought, How could I possibly have known? She answered, “No, no one ever told me.”

Qiu Qianchi let out a long sigh. “You… you truly know nothing at all. Pitiful! Pitiful!” After a pause, she continued, “Your two uncles were twin brothers. Eldest Uncle was Qiu Qianzhang³⁹, and Second Uncle was Qiu Qianren.⁴⁰ Their builds and faces, their speaking voices, all were exactly alike. But their fortunes and their temperaments were vastly different. Second Brother’s martial skill was extremely high, while Eldest Brother’s was merely ordinary. My martial skill was personally taught by Second Brother, but Eldest Brother was much closer to me. Second Brother was the chief of the Iron Palm Clan. His clan duties were numerous, and his own training was demanding, so he rarely saw me. When he taught me martial arts, he was strict and severe and never spoke more than a few words. But Eldest Brother was always ‘little sister’ this and ‘little sister’ that, our sibling bond was very deep. Later, when Eldest Brother and Second Brother fell out and quarrelled, I sided a little with Eldest Brother.” Lü’e asked, “Mama, what did my two uncles quarrel about?”

A faint smile suddenly appeared on Qiu Qianchi’s face. “This matter was neither big nor small. The fault was only that my Second Brother was too rigid. Second Brother was the clan chief, and the eight characters ‘Iron Palm Floats on Water Qiu Qianren’ rang out loud and clear across the rivers and lakes. But Eldest Brother Qiu Qianzhang’s name, when spoken, was known to very few. When Eldest Brother travelled the jianghu, for convenience’s sake, he sometimes borrowed Second Brother’s name. They looked exactly alike and were blood brothers, what harm was there in borrowing a name? But Second Brother could not accept this and was always nagging about it, saying Eldest Brother was swaggering about and swindling people. Eldest Brother had a good temper. Whenever Second Brother scolded him, he always smiled apologetically and admitted he was wrong. But once, Second Brother’s scolding was truly vicious and gave Eldest Brother no face at all. I could not bear it and spoke up in Eldest Brother’s defence, taking the matter upon myself. And so, brother and sister had a huge quarrel. In a fit of rage, I left Iron Palm Peak and never went back.

“I wandered the rivers and lakes alone, drifting east and west. Once, while pursuing a bandit, I stumbled upon this Passionless Valley by chance. It must have been karma from a past life. I met Gongsun Zhi, this… this villain… this villain, and the two of us married. I was a few years older than him, and my martial skill was far superior. After we married, not only did I pour out all my martial arts to teach him, but I also took care of every detail of his daily life, his food, his warmth, so that he never had to lift a finger. His family’s martial arts, that Acupoint Sealing technique, the Fishing Net Formation, the Yin-Yang Reversed Dual Blades technique, were clever enough, clever enough, but riddled with flaws. It was all my painstaking effort that patched them up, one by one.⁴¹ Once, when a powerful enemy attacked, if I had not risked my life to drive them off, this Passionless Valley would have been destroyed long ago. Who could have imagined that this butcher, with the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog, would repay kindness with enmity? After growing his wings, he never stopped to think where his abilities had come from, never thought about who had saved his life in times of peril.” As she spoke, she broke into a torrent of cursing, the language growing coarser and more vicious by the moment.

Lü’e’s face burned bright red. She felt that for her mother to curse her husband like this in front of Yang Guo was a tremendous loss of dignity. She called “Mama! Mama!” over and over, but there was no stopping her. Yang Guo, however, listened with tremendous enjoyment. Every poisonous curse struck him as deeply satisfying, as if they were kindred spirits. He too hated Gongsun Zhi to the bone. Hearing her curse so freely, he could not resist chiming in with a few additions, adding fuel to the fire, precisely to Qiu Qianchi’s taste. Had it not been for sparing Lü’e’s feelings, he would have joined in the cursing with equal abandon.

Qiu Qianchi cursed until her vocabulary was exhausted. When her store of insults offered nothing new, and even the old ones had been repeated again and again, she was forced to stop. She continued, “That year, I was carrying you in my belly. A pregnant woman’s temper is naturally a little hasty. Yet on the surface, he continued to flatter and attend to me just as before, while secretly carrying on with a lowly servant girl in the valley. After I gave birth to you, he was still sneaking around with that slut, and I knew nothing of it. I even thought that because we had such a lovely, jade-fair daughter, he was treating me better than ever. I was kept in the dark by those two dogs for several years before I accidentally overheard that villain and that slut discussing plans to fly far away, to leave Passionless Valley and never return.

“At the time, I was hiding behind a large tree. I heard that butcher say how much he dreaded my martial skill, that they must go as far away as possible. He said I kept him on too tight a leash, that he had not a shred of freedom, that only with that slut did he feel what it meant to be alive. All along, I had believed he treated me with his whole heart. When I heard those words, I was so furious I nearly fainted. I wanted to rush out and strike them both dead on the spot, one palm each, and that pair of shameless dogs would be finished. But though he was heartless, I still could not forget the bond of husband and wife over all these years. I thought perhaps this wretch had originally been a good man and it was that slut’s sweet talk and seductive wiles that had ensnared him. So I forced down my rage and stayed behind the tree, listening. I heard the two of them making their detailed plans. In two more days, I was to enter the Meditation Chamber for training and would not step out for seven days and seven nights. They would seize that chance to flee. By the time I discovered they were gone, seven days would have passed, and it would be impossible to catch up. As I listened, every hair on my body stood on end. I thought, Heaven has truly taken pity on me, letting me learn of this beforehand. Otherwise, if they were gone for seven days, where would I ever find them again?” At this point, her teeth ground audibly, and her hatred burned fiercely.

Lü’e asked, “What was that young servant girl’s name? Was she very beautiful?”

Qiu Qianchi said, “Pei! Beautiful, my foot! That little slut’s only skill was obedience. Whatever Gongsun Zhi said, she agreed. Her mouth was full of honeyed words, telling that butcher he was the finest man in the world, the greatest hero with the mightiest abilities. And that was how she snared that villain. Hmph, that slut was named Rou’er.⁴² That Gongsun Zhi, whose ancestors for eighteen generations lacked virtue, every stance, every move of his paltry skills, which one did I not understand? And that counts as a great hero? He was not even fit to be my eldest brother’s attendant. If he tried to carry my second brother’s chamber pot, my second brother would kick him flying with one foot.”

Hearing this, Yang Guo could not help but feel a slight twinge of pity for Gongsun Zhi. He thought, It must have been you who controlled every aspect of his life, demanding he obey your every command on matters great and small, while looking down on him all the while. In the end, you drove him to rebel. Lü’e, fearing her mother would launch into another endless tirade, asked hastily, “Mama, what happened next?”

Qiu Qianchi said, “Mm. Those two dogs had agreed to meet again at that same spot at the chen hour on the third day and flee together. In the two days before that, they would be doubly careful not to show the slightest crack, lest I see through their scheme. Then the two of them said many more shameless things. That slut gazed at that butcher with a dazed, enchanted look, as if he were more exalted than the Son of Heaven himself, more powerful and boundless in his magic than any immortal or bodhisattva. That butcher, for his part, swaggered with self-satisfaction, endlessly praising himself. Then they embraced and groped and fondled, those shameless, revolting displays nearly made me drop dead from rage on the spot. On the morning of the third day, I pretended to sit in the Meditation Chamber, cultivating in stillness. Gongsun Zhi came to the window to spy on me several times. The expression on his face, ah, it was joy bubbling up from the very depths of his soul. The moment he left, I immediately deployed my qinggong and hurried to their secret meeting place. That shameless little slut was already there waiting. Without a word, I seized her and hurled her into the passion flower thicket…” Yang Guo and Lü’e both could not help but cry out “Ah!” in shock.

Qiu Qianchi shot them both a sideways glare and continued, “A moment later, Gongsun Zhi arrived. When he saw Rou’er rolling and howling in the passion flower thicket, there is no need to describe his panic. I leaped out from behind the trees, seized both his wrists at the pulse points, and threw him into the passion flower thicket as well. In this valley, passed down through the generations, there was originally an antidote for the Passion Flower’s poison, called the Passion Severing Pill. Gongsun Zhi struggled to his feet, helped that slut up, and they rushed together to the Alchemy Chamber, hoping to use the Passion Severing Pill for a cure. Ha ha, and what do you think he found there?”

Lü’e said, “Mama… what did he find?” Yang Guo thought, You must have destroyed every last Passion Severing Pill. What else could it possibly be?

Sure enough, Qiu Qianchi said, “Ha ha, what he found was this: on the table in the Alchemy Chamber sat a large bowl of water. Hundreds of Passion Severing Pills were soaking in the bowl. Beside the bowl was pasted a slip of paper with three characters written on it: ‘Arsenic Solution.’⁴³ If you took the Passion Severing Pill, you could not avoid being poisoned by the arsenic. If you didn’t take it, you would die in the end regardless. The formula for compounding the Passion Severing Pill had originally been a secret passed down from his ancestors, but the many rare and precious ingredients could not be gathered quickly. And besides, preparing a batch of the pills required exposure to three years of spring dew and autumn frost before they were ready. At once, he rushed to the Meditation Chamber and knelt before me on both knees, begging me to spare both their lives. He knew that I, mindful of the bond between husband and wife, could never have brought myself to destroy all the Passion Severing Pills. I must have kept some. He slapped his own face over and over, swearing the most terrible oaths, saying that if only I would spare both their lives, he would immediately drive Rou’er out of the valley and never see her again, and would never dare harbour a disloyal heart from that day forward.

“As I listened to his pleading, every sentence was filled with ‘Rou’er, Rou’er.’ I grew angrier and angrier. I took out a single Passion Severing Pill and placed it on the table. ‘Only one Passion Severing Pill remains,’ I said. ‘It can only save one life. You know yourself, if each of you takes half, it will have no effect. Save her or save yourself. Make your own choice.’ He immediately took the pill and hurried back to the Alchemy Chamber. I followed. By then, that slut was already in such agony she was nearly dead, rolling on the ground. Gongsun Zhi said, ‘Rou’er, go in peace. I will die with you.’ And he drew his longsword. Rou’er, seeing such deep devotion and righteousness in him, was filled with gratitude. Struggling, she said, ‘Good… good. I will be your wife in the underworld.’ Gongsun Zhi drove his sword through her chest and killed her.

“I was watching from outside the Alchemy Chamber window, secretly alarmed. I feared his next stroke would be across his own throat. But when I saw him raise the sword, and I was about to cry out to stop him, I saw him instead wipe the blade on Rou’er’s corpse a few times to clean off the blood, then return it to its scabbard. He turned toward the window and said, ‘Sister Chi, I willingly repent. I have killed this slut with my own hands. Will you forgive me now?’ As he spoke, he raised his hand to his mouth and swallowed that single Passion Severing Pill. This turn of events was far beyond anything I had expected, but to have the matter concluded this way was enough to show the sincerity of his repentance, and I was quite satisfied. Thereupon, he set out a banquet in the chamber and poured wine most attentively, apologising to me. I berated him thoroughly, and he endlessly called himself deserving of death, swearing hundreds of oaths that he would never do such a thing again.”

Yang Guo thought, And that was the moment you fell for it completely! Lü’e’s tears were on the verge of falling. Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “What? Do you pity that slut?” Lü’e shook her head and said nothing. She was truly grieving over her father’s heartless cruelty.

Qiu Qianchi continued, “I drank two cups of wine and gave a faint, cold smile. From my bosom, I drew out another Passion Severing Pill and placed it on the table. Smiling, I said, ‘You were a little too quick with your sword just now. I was only testing your heart. If you had only pleaded with me a few more times, I would have given you both pills and saved that beauty’s life. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful?’”

Lü’e asked hastily, “Mama, if at that moment he had truly pleaded again, would you have given him both pills?”

Qiu Qianchi was silent for a long while. Then she said, “I don’t know either. At the time, I had also thought, why not save that slut and drive her out of the valley? Then Gongsun Zhi would be grateful to me and might, from then on, turn over a new leaf and never dare to misbehave again. But he, to save his own life, could not wait to kill his beloved with his own hands. You cannot blame me for that.

“Gongsun Zhi picked up that pill and studied it for a long time. Raising his cup, he smiled and said, ‘Sister Chi, why speak of things that are past? It was better to kill that girl after all. Clean and tidy. Drink this cup.’ He kept urging me to drink. Having settled a matter that had weighed on my heart, I felt free and joyful and ended up drinking until I was dead drunk. When I awoke, I was already here in this cavern. The tendons in my hands and feet had all been severed by him. That butcher didn’t even have the courage to see my face again. Hmph, by now, he must think my bones have long since turned to ash.”

When she finished this story, a murderous light blazed in her eyes, and her expression was terrifying to behold. Both Yang Guo and Lü’e turned their heads away, not daring to meet her gaze. For a long, long time, none of the three spoke.

Lü’e looked around. In the cavern, there was nothing but broken stones, dead leaves, and scattered weeds everywhere. Mournfully, she said, “Mama, you have lived in this cavern for over ten years, surviving on nothing but jujubes?” Qiu Qianchi said, “Indeed. Do you think that villain carved up by a thousand blades would deliver meals to me every day?” Lü’e embraced her and cried, “Mama!”

Yang Guo said, “Did Gongsun Zhi ever tell you whether this cavern has another way out?” Qiu Qianchi laughed coldly. “I was his wife for so many years. He never once mentioned that beneath the manor there was such a cavern, such a pool. If this cavern had another way out, that villain would never have left me here. Those crocodiles, he most likely raised them later. He was afraid I might escape, after all.”

Yang Guo made a circuit of the cavern and indeed found no passage other than the entrance they had come through. He looked up at the opening that admitted light overhead and saw that it was at least a hundred zhang from the ground. Below the opening, a large jujube tree had grown, but it was only four or five zhang tall. Even if twenty jujube trees were stacked together, they would not reach the top. He pondered for a long time but was truly at a loss. He said, “I’ll climb the tree and take a look.” He leaped into a jujube tree and climbed to its crown. From there, he could see that the rock wall above was rough and uneven, not as smooth as the lower portions. Holding his breath, he sprang onto the rock wall and climbed steadily upward. The higher he climbed, the more his heart secretly rejoiced. He turned and called down to Lü’e, “Miss Gongsun, if I can get out of this cave, I’ll lower a rope and pull you both up.”

He climbed about sixty or seventy zhang, relying on his exceptional qinggong to turn danger into safety at every step. But when he was still seven or eight zhang from the opening, the rock wall became not only exceptionally smooth, offering no more handholds or footholds, but also slanted inward. Unless one were a gecko or a fly, there was no way to cling to that surface without falling. Yang Guo studied the situation around him. The opening overhead was about a zhang in diameter, more than large enough for a person to pass through. An idea already formed in his mind. He slid back down to the cavern floor and said, “We can get out! But we need to twist a long rope.” He drew the dagger and began stripping bark from the jujube trees, twisting and braiding it into rope. Gongsun Lü’e was overjoyed and helped at his side.

Though the two worked quickly, it still took them more than two shichen, until the sky outside had darkened, to finish twisting an extremely long rope of tree bark.⁴⁴

Yang Guo gripped the rope and yanked hard several times. “It won’t break,” he said. Using the dagger, he cut a jujube branch about one zhang and five chi long. He tied one end of the rope around the middle of the branch, then climbed up once more. He scaled to the end of the rock wall, planted both feet firmly against the stone using the Thousand-Catty Anchor technique,⁴⁵ summoned his strength into both arms, and with a great shout of “Up!” hurled the branch out through the opening. The force of this throw was perfectly judged, the branch landed squarely across the mouth of the opening.

Yang Guo pulled on the rope, drawing the branch to the edge of the opening so that both ends rested on solid ground outside, with only a few chi of the middle suspended over empty space. He pulled the rope a few more times to test it and found the branch held quite firmly, it could certainly bear his weight. He called out, “I’m going up!” Gripping the rope with both hands, he climbed hand over hand. Looking down, he saw Qiu Qianchi and Lü’e, mother and daughter, reduced to two tiny dark shapes in the dim twilight. He put more strength into his arms and climbed even faster. In moments, he had grasped the branch spanning the opening. With a flex of his arms, a whoosh sounded, and he had already flown out through the opening and landed on the ground.

Yang Guo let out a long breath and straightened up. In the east, a bright moon was just rising behind the mountain. After spending the better part of a day shut in the dark, oppressive crocodile pool and cavern, to regain his freedom now, an indescribable ease filled his heart. He thought, When Gugu and I were together in the ancient tomb, why did I never feel the slightest sense of confinement? It seems the mind shapes one’s surroundings. If you want to leave but cannot, only then does your heart grow heavy. If you never wanted to leave in the first place, then leaving might not bring happiness after all. Thinking of Xiaolongnü, the wounds from the Passion Flower thorns began to ache again. He calmed his mind for a moment, then lowered the long rope.

The moment Qiu Qianchi saw Yang Guo emerge from the cave, she began cursing her daughter. “You fool! How could you let him go up alone? Once he’s out of the cave, do you think he’ll still remember us?” Lü’e said, “Mama, set your mind at ease. Brother Yang is not that kind of person.” Qiu Qianchi raged, “All the men under Heaven are the same. Could there possibly be a good one?” Suddenly, she turned her head and scrutinised her daughter from head to toe. “Little fool,” she said, “he’s taken advantage of you, hasn’t he?” Lü’e’s face flushed crimson. “Mama, what are you saying? I don’t understand.” Qiu Qianchi grew even angrier. “If you don’t understand, why are you blushing? Let me tell you, when dealing with men, you must not relax your grip for a single step, you must not let down your guard for a single instant. Haven’t you seen clearly enough what happened to your mother?” She was still rambling on when Lü’e leaped up and caught the long rope Yang Guo had lowered. She tied it securely around her mother’s waist and said with a smile, “See? Does Brother Yang care about us or not?” She tugged the rope a few times to signal that it was tied.

Qiu Qianchi snorted. “Let Mama tell you, once you’re up there, you must nail yourself to his side and never leave him for an inch. A husband. zhangfu, is only one zhang. Beyond one zhang, he is no longer your husband. Do you understand? Your grandfather named your mother Qianchi, a thousand chi, which is a hundred zhang. Heh heh, beyond a hundred zhang, what husband is there?” Lü’e felt both amused and sorrowful. She thought, Mama is simply deluding herself. He has never placed me in his heart in the slightest. Even in a hundred years, I will never have any claim on him. Her eyes reddened, and she turned her head away. Qiu Qianchi was about to speak again when she suddenly felt a tightening at her waist, and her body began to rise slowly.

Lü’e looked up at her mother. Though she knew Yang Guo would lower the rope again at once to rescue her, now, left alone in the subterranean cavern, she could not help but tremble with a terrible fear.

Yang Guo pulled Qiu Qianchi out of the opening, untied the long rope from her waist, and lowered it a second time into the cavern. Lü’e tied the bark rope around her waist and tugged the rope a few times. She felt the rope tighten, and her body rose into the air. She watched the jujube trees beneath her feet grow smaller and smaller, the stars overhead brighter and brighter. In just a few more zhang, she would be out of the cave. Suddenly, she heard someone above her give a great shout, and then the rope went slack, her body plunged downward at terrifying speed. Falling from a height of a hundred zhang, how could she not be smashed to pieces? Lü’e screamed in terror and nearly fainted. She felt herself hurtling down, utterly powerless. All she could think was, Is he trying to kill me by dropping me? No, he would never, never do that!

Yang Guo had been pulling in the rope hand over hand, drawing Lü’e upward. Success was in sight when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps rushing up behind him, someone was attacking. He was so startled he could barely think. There was no time to turn and face the enemy. His hands flew like wind, reeling in the rope. But he heard a loud shout: “What sneaky business are you up to here?” A fierce gust of wind, a long, heavy weapon was sweeping toward his back.

From the sound of the weapon’s wind, Yang Guo knew it was the dwarf Fan Yiweng⁴⁶ attacking. In this desperate moment, he could only swing his left hand back and press his palm against the steel staff, deflecting it to the side and neutralising the force of the blow. In the darkness, Fan Yiweng had not seen Yang Guo’s face, but he already knew his opponent’s martial skill was formidable. He pulled back the steel staff and swept it across with all his might. Yang Guo’s right hand was supporting Lü’e’s full weight, and the hundred-zhang rope itself was no light burden, after holding it for some time, he was already straining. Sensing the staff’s arrival, he hurriedly extended his left palm again to neutralise it. Fan Yiweng’s customary steel staff had been destroyed, and the one he now wielded was even thicker and heavier. This sweep came with tremendous force. The instant Yang Guo’s left palm met the staff, a violent jolt ran through his entire body. His right hand lost its grip, and the rope slipped free. Lü’e plummeted downward.

From the cavern, Lü’e screamed. And above the opening, Qiu Qianchi and Yang Guo cried out together. Yang Guo had no time to block the steel staff. His left hand shot out in a flash as he bent forward and seized the rope. But Lü’e’s falling momentum was immense, the weight of over a hundred jin plus the force of her plummet created a pull of nearly a thousand jin. Yang Guo caught the rope and managed to check it for a single instant, but then the pull yanked him forward, and he found himself plunging headfirst into the opening, utterly beyond his control. For all his martial skill, he now had absolutely no room to manoeuvre.

Qiu Qianchi’s hand and foot tendons were severed and her martial arts were completely gone. Watching from the side, she could only burn with helpless anxiety. She saw the hundred-zhang rope coiled at the edge of the opening growing shorter and shorter as it was pulled through. Once the rope ran out, Yang Guo and Lü’e would meet with a calamitous fate. The long rope was nearly gone when suddenly the weight of the two bodies yanked it so violently that it flew up, lashing toward Qiu Qianchi. A thought flashed through her mind: You villain, you harm others, now I’ll drag you down to die with them! She watched the rope’s trajectory and gave it the lightest of nudges with her hand. The nudge carried hardly any force, but the angle was perfect. The rope swung across and wrapped itself several times around Fan Yiweng’s waist, instantly binding him tight.

Fan Yiweng felt a sudden tightening at his waist and hurriedly deployed the Thousand-Catty Anchor technique to root himself in place. But the combined weight of Yang Guo and Lü’e, plus the momentum of their fall, still dragged him step by step toward the edge of the opening. Fan Yiweng saw that one more step forward and he would tumble headfirst into the abyss. In great alarm, he seized the rope with his left hand and braced his right hand against the rock at the opening’s edge. With this leverage, he gave a great shout and actually pulled the rope to a dead stop.

By now, Lü’e was no more than a dozen zhang from the ground. Seeing Yang Guo fall with her, her heart was filled with consolation.

The most fearsome thing at that moment was the momentum of the fall. Even a tiny pebble, dropped from such a height, would strike with immense force. Once Fan Yiweng, with his heroic strength, had arrested the momentum, the weight in his hands was only the body weight of Yang Guo and Lü’e, no more than two hundred jin, which was nothing to him. Holding the rope with his right hand, he was about to reach down with his left to untie the rope from his waist and send his enemies plunging down once more, when he suddenly felt a slight prick of pain in his back. Something sharp was pressed precisely against the Lingtai acupoint below his sixth vertebra.⁴⁷ A woman’s voice barked, “Pull them up, quickly! If the Lingtai is damaged, all one hundred meridians will be crippled!”

Fan Yiweng was badly startled. The words “If the Lingtai is damaged, all one hundred meridians will be crippled” were exactly what his shifu had solemnly warned him when teaching the art of acupoint striking. He dared not disobey and could only pull hand over hand with all his strength, hauling Yang Guo and Lü’e upward. But he had previously exerted himself violently to resist the force of the fall and had overstrained. Now he felt his chest tight and congested, and a sweet taste rose in his throat, as though he were about to vomit blood. He knew his internal organs had already suffered injury and that he truly should not exert himself further. Yet with his vital point controlled by an enemy, he could only fight with his life. With great difficulty, he pulled Yang Guo up. The moment his heart relaxed, his four limbs went weak and sore. Wah, he vomited a great spray of fresh blood and collapsed, limp, on the ground.

The instant he released his grip, the rope began to slide downward again. Qiu Qianchi cried, “Save her, quickly!” Yang Guo hardly needed her to tell him. He seized the rope and at last pulled Lü’e up. Lü’e, having been raised and dropped several times, had already fainted from sheer terror. Yang Guo turned and first sealed Fan Yiweng’s Futu and Jugu acupoints, rendering his hands and feet immobile.⁴⁸ Only then did he press Lü’e’s renzhong acupoint to revive her.⁴⁹

Lü’e slowly came to. Opening her eyes, she had no idea where she was. By the moonlight, she saw Yang Guo looking down at her with a smile and could not help but throw herself into his arms. “Brother Yang,” she cried, “are we both dead? Thank you for being willing to die with me. You are truly a man of feeling and honour. Where is Mama?” Yang Guo laughed. “Yes, we are both dead. But we’ve come back to life again.”

Hearing the teasing note in his voice, Lü’e pulled back to see his face clearly, only to find her mother looking at her with an expression that was not quite a smile. Overcome with embarrassment, she cried, “Mama!” She stood up.

Yang Guo saw that although Qiu Qianchi had no martial skill, she had still managed to subdue Fan Yiweng and save his life. Filled with admiration, he asked, “What method did you use, Elder, to make this dwarf obey?” Qiu Qianchi smiled faintly and raised her hand. In it, she held a sharp-edged pebble. The fact was that Gongsun Zhi’s acupoint-sealing techniques had been taught by her, and Fan Yiweng had learned them from Gongsun Zhi, the three of them shared a single lineage, and the oral formulae were identical. When she pressed the point of the stone against Fan Yiweng’s Lingtai acupoint and spoke those eight heart-stopping words. “If the Lingtai is damaged, all one hundred meridians will be crippled”, how could Fan Yiweng not have panicked? In truth, given the strength in Qiu Qianchi’s hands at that moment, how could a tiny pebble like that possibly “cripple all one hundred meridians”?

By now, the only thing occupying Yang Guo’s heart was Xiaolongnü’s safety. Seeing that Lü’e and Qiu Qianchi were out of danger and Fan Yiweng had been subdued, he said, “You two wait here for a moment. I must deliver the Passion Severing Pill to save someone, it is urgent.” Qiu Qianchi said, puzzled, “What Passion Severing Pill? You have a Passion Severing Pill too?” Yang Guo said, “Yes. Please take a look and see if this is the genuine pill.” He took the small bottle from his bosom and poured out the square pill. Qiu Qianchi took it, smelled it, and said, “That’s right. How did this pill fall into your hands? And since you are poisoned by the Passion Flower, why haven’t you taken it yourself?” Yang Guo said, “It is a long story. After I deliver this pill, I will explain everything to you in detail, Elder.” He took back the pill and made to leave.

Lü’e, filled with both sorrow and concern, said quietly, “Brother Yang, you must avoid my father at all costs. Don’t let him see you.” Qiu Qianchi barked, “Again with ‘Father’! If you call him ‘Father’ one more time, don’t bother calling me ‘Mama’ anymore.”

Yang Guo said, “I am going to deliver the pill to cure my Gugu’s poison. Gongsun Valley Master will certainly not obstruct me.” Lü’e said, “And what if he devises another vicious scheme against you?” Yang Guo smiled faintly. “Then I can only resign myself to the will of Heaven.”

Qiu Qianchi asked, “You are going to see Gongsun Zhi, is that right?” Yang Guo said, “Yes.” Qiu Qianchi said, “Good. I will go with you. Perhaps I can lend you a hand.”

Yang Guo had at first thought only of delivering the antidote to save Xiaolongnü and had considered nothing else. Hearing Qiu Qianchi’s words, a sudden light dawned before his eyes. That villainous Valley Master’s original wife has arrived. How can he possibly marry Gugu? In his great joy, a thought suddenly struck him: There is only one Passion Severing Pill. Though it can save Gugu, I will inevitably die. At this reflection, he could not help but feel a shadow fall over him.

Lü’e saw his face shift between joy and sorrow and thought of how her parents’ meeting would surely turn Heaven and earth upside down. Her heart was tangled in a hundred knots, her mind a whirl of confusion. Qiu Qianchi, however, was brimming with excitement. “E’er, quickly, carry me on your back,” she said. Lü’e said, “Mama, you must first bathe and change your clothes.” In truth, she dreaded seeing the scene of her parents’ reunion and hoped to delay it moment by moment.

Qiu Qianchi flew into a rage. “My clothes are in tatters and my body is filthy, whose fault is that? Could it be…” Suddenly, she remembered how her eldest brother Qiu Qianzhang had often impersonated Second Brother Qiu Qianren, putting on airs in the jianghu and terrifying countless heroes and gallants. She thought that with the tendons in her hands and feet severed, how could she possibly be a match for Gongsun Zhi? Even if she met him face to face, she would never be able to avenge this wrong. She would have to impersonate Second Brother, first scare that villain out of his wits, then wait for an opportunity to strike. Fortunately, he had never met Second Brother, and he was certain she had long since died in the cavern, so he would never suspect a thing. But then she reconsidered: I was his wife for so many years. How could he fail to recognise me?

Yang Guo saw her hesitating, unable to decide, and had already guessed part of it. He said, “Elder, you are afraid Gongsun Zhi will recognise you, aren’t you? I happen to have a treasure here.” He took out the human-skin mask and put it on. Instantly, his face was transformed beyond recognition, dark and sinister, deeply frightening. Qiu Qianchi was delighted. She took the mask and said, “E’er, let us first hide in the woods behind the manor. Go fetch me a hempen gown, and don’t forget a large palm-leaf fan.” Lü’e acknowledged this, bent down, and lifted her mother onto her back.

Yang Guo looked around. They were standing on the peak of an isolated summit, surrounded by dense forest. In the distance, the stone manor was visible, already several li away. Qiu Qianchi sighed. “This peak is called Demon Ghost Peak. For generations, the valley has passed down the belief that a fierce ghost haunts this peak, so no one has ever dared come up. To think that my rebirth into the world would take place right here on Demon Ghost Peak.”

Yang Guo barked at Fan Yiweng, “What are you doing here?” Fan Yiweng showed not the slightest fear. “Kill me quickly and spare me your chatter,” he snarled. Yang Guo said, “Did Gongsun Valley Master send you?” Fan Yiweng said angrily, “That’s right. Shifu ordered me to search the front and rear of the mountain for any villains who might be lurking here. And sure enough, just as he expected, someone was up here carrying out these sneaky schemes.” As he spoke, he sized up Qiu Qianchi, wondering who this old woman could be, and why Miss Gongsun was calling her “Mama.” Fan Yiweng was older than Gongsun Zhi and his wife. He had joined the school later in life, bringing his own martial skills with him, and when Gongsun Zhi took him as a disciple, Qiu Qianchi was already trapped in the cavern. So he did not recognise her. But hearing the three of them discussing their plans, he guessed they meant to do his shifu grave harm.

Qiu Qianchi, hearing the utter devotion to Gongsun Zhi in his words, could not contain her fury. She said to Yang Guo, “Kill this dwarf at once and remove a future threat.” Yang Guo turned and looked at Fan Yiweng. Seeing him stand there utterly unafraid, Yang Guo could not help but respect him as a true man. He wanted to spare his life, but he thought that right now he needed Qiu Qianchi’s help and could not afford to go against her wishes. He said, “Miss Gongsun, take your mother down the mountain first. I will deal with this dwarf and join you shortly.”

Gongsun Lü’e had always known her Eldest Senior Brother to be an upright man and could not bear to see him die an unjust death. She said, “Brother Yang, my Eldest Senior Brother is not a bad person…” Qiu Qianchi roared, “Go, go! You disobey every word I say. What use is a daughter like you?” Lü’e dared not say more. Carrying her mother on her back, she searched for a path down the peak.

Yang Guo walked over to Fan Yiweng. He thought that if he released Fan Yiweng’s acupoints now, the dwarf would report everything to the Valley Master. Lowering his voice, he said, “Brother Fan, the acupoints on your hands and feet have been sealed. They will release on their own after six shichen. You and I have neither grievance nor enmity. I cannot harm you.” With that, he deployed his qinggong and raced after Lü’e. Fan Yiweng had already closed his eyes, awaiting death. He had never imagined Yang Guo would treat him this way. For a moment, he was stunned speechless, and could only watch helplessly as the three figures vanished behind the rock face, swallowed by the darkness.

Yang Guo was desperate to see Xiaolongnü again. He thought Lü’e was moving too slowly and said, “Elder Qiu, let me carry you for a stretch.” Lü’e had earlier sensed that her mother and Yang Guo were somewhat at odds in their speech and manner and had been a little worried. Hearing him offer to carry her mother, her heart was gladdened. “Then I must trouble you,” she said. Qiu Qianchi said, “I carried you in my womb for ten months and brought a daughter as lovely as a flower, as fair as jade into this world, and with a single word I have given her to you. Is carrying me for a stretch too much to ask?” Yang Guo was taken aback and thought it best not to reply. He lifted her onto his back, drew a breath, and shot down the mountainside like an arrow loosed from the bowstring.

Qiu Qianren was known as Iron Palm Floats on Water, and his qinggong was among the very finest in the jianghu. Back then, when he fought Zhou Botong, they had chased each other for ten thousand li, from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, and even Old Urchin, with his superlative martial skill, had been unable to catch him. Qiu Qianchi’s own skill had been taught personally by her brother, and before her tendons were crippled, her qinggong had naturally been of the first rank. Now, lying on Yang Guo’s back, she felt as though his feet never touched the ground, he ran both fast and steady. She was simultaneously impressed and puzzled. She thought, This boy’s qinggong is entirely different from our school’s, but it is certainly not inferior to the Iron Palm School’s techniques. I must not underestimate him. She had originally felt that her daughter’s marriage to this man was a great injustice, but since her daughter’s heart was set, there was nothing to be done. Earlier, watching him scale the rock wall, she had already sensed that his martial skill was not low. Now, she was gradually beginning to feel that this future son-in-law might not disgrace her daughter after all.

In less than the time it takes to eat a meal, Yang Guo had carried Qiu Qianchi to the foot of the peak. When he turned to look for Lü’e, she was still halfway down the mountainside. They waited a long time before she came running to the base, already breathing in delicate gasps, her forehead beaded with sweat.

The three of them quietly circled around to the back of the manor. Lü’e dared not enter the manor herself. She went to a neighbouring household and borrowed clothes for herself to change into. For her mother, she borrowed a hempen gown and a palm-leaf fan, and for Yang Guo, a man’s long gown to wear. The neighbours had always treated her with great respect, and borrowing these things presented no difficulty. Qiu Qianchi put on the human-skin mask, donned the hempen gown, and took up the palm-leaf fan. Supported on either side by Yang Guo and Lü’e, she walked toward the manor gate.

As they passed through the gate, all three were churning with emotion. Qiu Qianchi had been away for over a decade. Now, returning to this place, her feelings were more tumultuous than ever. They saw that great red lanterns had been hung at the manor gate. Looking inside, everything was festooned with coloured silk and wedding banners, and the sounds of drums and music drifted from the great hall. The household servants, seeing Qiu Qianchi and Yang Guo, were all taken aback. But with Lü’e accompanying them, no one dared say much.

The three of them marched straight into the hall. It was packed with wedding guests, most of them neighbours from the Narcissus Manor in Passionless Valley. Gongsun Zhi, dressed in full wedding attire, stood on the left. On the right, the bride wore a phoenix crown and a ceremonial cape.⁵⁰ Though her face could not be seen, her figure was slender and graceful, it was Xiaolongnü beyond any doubt.

In the courtyard, flames flashed, and three thunderous bang-bang-bang reports rang out as firecrackers were set off. The master of ceremonies sang out, “The auspicious hour has arrived! Let the bride and groom bow together to Heaven and Earth!”

Qiu Qianchi burst into great peals of laughter. The sound shook the candle flames and set the roof tiles trembling. In a ringing voice, she declared, “The bride and groom bow together to Heaven and Earth, and what of the former wife?”

Though the tendons in her hands and feet were severed, her neili had not diminished in the slightest. In the cavern, with no distractions, she had cultivated day and night with diligent intensity. Fourteen years of training were worth more than twenty-eight for an ordinary person. When these two sentences thundered forth, every ear in the hall buzzed and rang. The scene before their eyes dimmed, and more than ten of the red candles in the hall flickered out of their own accord.

Everyone was startled and turned as one. Gongsun Zhi, hearing that shout, was already greatly alarmed. When he saw Yang Guo and his daughter standing safe and sound beside this masked stranger, his consternation deepened. He barked, “Who are you?”

Qiu Qianchi forced her voice tight and laughed coldly. “You and I are bound by the closest of ties. Do you pretend not to recognise me?” She spoke these two sentences with her qi sunk to her dantian. Though the sound was not loud, it carried far into the distance. Passionless Valley was surrounded on all sides by mountains, and before long, echoes came rolling back from every direction. “not to recognise me? not to recognise me?”, arriving in wave after wave.

The Imperial Preceptor Jinlun, Xiaoxiang Zi⁵¹, Yin Kexi⁵², and the others were all present among the guests observing the ceremony. Hearing Qiu Qianchi’s voice, they knew she was a figure of great significance, and all turned their eyes upon her.

Gongsun Zhi saw that this person wore a hempen gown and carried a palm-leaf fan, an appearance similar to the one his former wife had described for her brother Qiu Qianren. Her neili was so formidable, yet her face was grotesque and strange, somewhat like the disguise Xiaoxiang Zi had worn earlier when Zhou Botong impersonated him. There was certainly something deeply suspicious going on. Guarded and wary, he said coldly, “I have never met you before in my life. What ‘bound by the closest of ties’? Is that not laughable?”

Yin Kexi was thoroughly versed in the lore of the jianghu. Seeing Qiu Qianchi’s hempen gown and palm-leaf fan, a thought stirred in his mind. He asked, “Might Your Excellency be the elder Qiu, Iron Palm Floats on Water?” Qiu Qianchi laughed loudly and waved her palm-leaf fan a few times. “I thought everyone in this world who knew this old man was dead. It seems one remains.”

Gongsun Zhi’s expression did not change. “Is Your Excellency truly Qiu Qianren? I fear you are merely a shameless impostor.” Qiu Qianchi was startled. She thought, That butcher is so perceptive, how does he know I am not? She could not fathom what had given her away. She only gave a faint, cold smile and did not answer.

Yang Guo no longer paid any attention to whatever mischief this husband and wife were brewing between them. He rushed to Xiaolongnü’s side. In his right hand he held the Passion Severing Pill, and with his left he tore away the red veil covering her face. “Gugu,” he cried, “open your mouth!” The moment Xiaolongnü saw Yang Guo, her heart gave a great leap. Shock and joy mingled within her. In a trembling voice, she said, “You… you really are better.” By now, she had long since learned that Gongsun Zhi was vicious of heart and cruel in his actions. The only reason she had agreed to marry him was to save Yang Guo’s life. Seeing him suddenly appear, she assumed Gongsun Zhi had kept his word and cured the deadly poison in his body. Yang Guo stretched out his hand and pushed the Passion Severing Pill into her mouth. “Swallow it, quickly!” he said. Xiaolongnü had no idea what it was, but she did as he said and swallowed it. In an instant, she felt a coolness shoot straight down to her dantian.

By now, the hall had descended into chaos. Gongsun Zhi watched Yang Guo come to cause trouble yet again. He wanted to stop him but was wary of this masked stranger, not knowing whether she truly was his brother-in-law, Iron Palm Floats on Water Qiu Qianren. For the moment, he dared not act.

Yang Guo ripped Xiaolongnü’s phoenix crown and ceremonial cape to shreds, took her by the arm, and drew her aside. “Gugu,” he said, “that villainous Valley Master is about to taste some suffering. Let us watch the show.” Xiaolongnü’s heart was in utter confusion. She leaned against Yang Guo, not knowing what to say. Ma Guangzuo⁵³, seeing Yang Guo suddenly appear, was indescribably delighted. He came forward and peppered him with questions, chattering endlessly, completely oblivious to the fact that Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü truly did not welcome interruptions.

Yin Kexi had long heard that Qiu Qianren, twenty years ago, had shaken the lands north and south of the Great River and was a figure of tremendous stature. And having heard her laugh and shout, how the valley had echoed, proof of her profoundly deep neili, he was eager to cultivate her acquaintance. He stepped forward, bowed with clasped hands, and smiled. “Today is Gongsun Valley Master’s day of great joy. Has Elder Qiu also come to share a cup of wedding wine?” Qiu Qianchi pointed at Gongsun Zhi. “Does Your Excellency know what relation he is to me?” Yin Kexi said, “I do not. I would be grateful for the explanation.” Qiu Qianchi said, “Let him tell you himself.”

Gongsun Zhi asked once more, “Is Your Excellency truly Iron Palm Floats on Water? This is strange indeed!” He clapped his hands together and said to a green-robed disciple, “Go to the study and fetch the letter case from the eastern shelf.” Lü’e, utterly at a loss, pulled over a chair and let her mother sit. Gongsun Zhi wondered to himself, She and that boy Yang fell into the crocodile pool. How did they survive?

In a moment, the disciple presented the letter case. Gongsun Zhi opened it and took out a letter. Coldly, he said, “Ten years ago, I received a letter from Qiu Qianren. If Your Excellency is truly Qiu Qianren, then this letter must be a forgery.” Qiu Qianchi was startled. She thought, Since Second Brother and I fell out, we have never exchanged any word. How could a letter suddenly have come? And what does it say? She said loudly, “When did I ever write you a letter? This is pure nonsense.”

Hearing the tone of her speech, Gongsun Zhi suddenly remembered someone. A violent shock ran through him, and cold sweat instantly broke out across his back. But then he thought, No, no. She died in that subterranean cavern. By now, she has long since rotted away to nothing but a pile of white bones. But then who is this person? He opened the letter and read aloud:

“‘To Younger Brother Zhi and Younger Sister Chi: Since Eldest Brother fell to the hands of Guo Jing⁵⁴ and Huang Rong⁵⁵ on Iron Palm Peak…’”

At the very first line, Qiu Qianchi was struck with both grief and pain. She cried out, “What? Who says my eldest brother is dead?” All her life, her bond with her eldest brother Qiu Qianzhang had been the deepest. Hearing the news of his death, her entire body trembled, and her voice changed. She had been projecting her voice from her dantian, making it difficult to tell whether she was male or female, but now, with her deepest feelings laid bare, the words “Who says my eldest brother is dead?” revealed a woman’s voice.

Gongsun Zhi realised that the person before him was a woman, and hearing her say “my eldest brother,” the terror in the depths of his heart grew even greater. But he was now even more certain that this was certainly not Qiu Qianren. He continued reading the letter:

”‘…your foolish elder brother is deeply ashamed that for these several decades, I have greatly failed in the way of brotherly love, to the point that siblings have become estranged. The fault lies entirely with me, your elder brother. Reflecting in the depths of night, my evil deeds are without number, how could they be limited to wronging Eldest Brother and Worthy Younger Sister alone? Recently, at the second Mount Hua Tournament, your foolish elder brother was fortunate to receive the enlightenment of the Great Master Yideng. I have now laid down the butcher’s knife and taken refuge in the Three Treasures.⁵⁶ My practice is still shallow, and worldly ties are hard to sever. Beside the blue lamp and before the ancient Buddha, I often recall the joys of our brother and sister days of old. Facing the wind, I cherish these thoughts and pray for your blessings. The monk Ci’en presses his palms together.’”⁵⁷

As Gongsun Zhi read the letter through, Qiu Qianchi wept quietly to herself. When the letter was finished, she could no longer hold back and broke into loud sobs. “Eldest Brother! Second Brother!” she wailed. “Do you know the suffering I have endured?” Suddenly, she tore off the mask and shrieked, “Gongsun Zhi! Do you still recognise me?” This fierce, piercing cry extinguished another seven or eight candles in the great hall, and those that remained flickered unsteadily.

In the dim candlelight, a face of utter, ghastly ferocity, the face of an old woman, suddenly appeared before the crowd. Everyone was profoundly shaken, and no one dared utter a word. Silence gripped the hall. Every heart pounded wildly.

Suddenly, an old servant who had been waiting in the corner rushed forward, crying, “Mistress! Mistress! You are not dead after all!” Qiu Qianchi nodded. “Uncle Zhang, so you still remember me.” The old servant was fiercely loyal. Seeing his mistress safe and sound, he was beside himself with joy. He kowtowed repeatedly, crying, “Mistress, this, this is the true great joy!” Among the wedding guests in the hall, aside from the Imperial Preceptor Jinlun and a handful of outsiders, the rest were all neighbours of the valley. Anyone over thirty or forty mostly recognised Qiu Qianchi. At once, a hubbub of voices arose as they crowded forward, pressing her with questions.

Gongsun Zhi roared, “All of you, stand back!” Everyone turned in astonishment. They saw him point a finger at Qiu Qianchi and shout, “Wretched woman! How dare you come back? And you still have the face to see me?”

Lü’e had been hoping with all her heart that her father would admit his wrongs and reconcile with her mother. Never had she expected to hear such words from him. Overcome with emotion, she rushed before her father and knelt on the ground. “Die!” she cried. “Mama is not dead, not dead! Apologise to her quickly. Beg her to forgive you!”

Gongsun Zhi laughed coldly. “Beg her to forgive me? What have I done wrong?” Lü’e said, “You locked Mama away in that underground cavern and made her suffer through more than ten years. Die, how can you face her?” Gongsun Zhi said icily, “She was the one who tried to harm me first, do you know that? She threw me into the passion flower thicket and made me endure the agony of a thousand needles and ten thousand thorns, do you know that? She soaked the antidote in arsenic solution so that whether I took it or not, I would die, do you know that? She forced me to kill… to kill with my own hands someone I loved, do you know that?” Lü’e wept. “Your daughter knows all of it. That was Rou’er.”

Gongsun Zhi had not heard that name spoken in over a decade. His face changed colour dramatically. He raised his head to the sky and murmured, “That’s right. Rou’er. Rou’er!” Pointing at Qiu Qianchi, he said savagely, “It was… it was this cruel, venomous wretch who forced me to kill Rou’er!” His expression grew more and more ghastly. Softly, he called, “Rou’er… Rou’er…”

Yang Guo thought that neither of this fated couple of enemies was a good person. His own poison had sunk deep, he had only a few days left in this world. In these remaining days, all he wanted was to find some place far from human habitation and spend them quietly with Xiaolongnü. He had no heart at all to sort out who was right and who was wrong between Gongsun Zhi and his wife. He gently tugged Xiaolongnü’s sleeve and whispered, “Let us go.”

Xiaolongnü said, “This woman is really his wife? He really locked her away for over ten years?” She could scarcely believe that such a vicious person existed in the world. Yang Guo said, “Husband and wife, they have been taking revenge on each other.” Xiaolongnü tilted her head and pondered for a long moment. Softly, she said, “This I do not understand. Was this woman, like me, forced to marry him?” In her mind, unless two people were forced into marriage, they would surely love and cherish each other. How could they possibly harm each other so? Yang Guo shook his head. “In this world, good people are few and evil people are many. The thoughts of such people are truly difficult for others to fathom…”

Suddenly, Gongsun Zhi gave a great roar: “Get away!” His right leg shot up. Lü’e’s body flew through the air and crashed outward, her father had clearly kicked her.

She was hurtling straight toward Qiu Qianchi’s chest. Qiu Qianchi could not use her hands or feet and could only duck her head to evade. But Lü’e was coming too fast. Bang, her body collided with her mother’s shoulder. Qiu Qianchi toppled backward, chair and all, her bald head smashing against a stone pillar. Fresh blood splattered the pillar, and she could not rise. Lü’e, kicked by her father, also lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

杨过 – Yáng Guò. His name meaning “fault or transgression”; his courtesy name Gaizhi means “to correct it”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
丈 – zhàng. Traditional Chinese unit of length, about 3.3 metres. Ten chi make one zhang. ↩
公孙绿萼 – Gōngsūn Lǜ’è. Her name meaning “green calyx”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
内力 – nèilì. Literally internal force. Kinetic manifestation of cultivated qi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
neili (内功). Nèigōng. Cultivation of qi through meditation, breathing exercises, and specialised training. neili enhances all martial arts and is the foundation of advanced techniques. ↩
毒龙 – Venomous Dragon. In Chinese mythology, dragons (long) are associated with water and can be either benevolent or malevolent. “venomous dragon” here is Yang Guo’s fearful imagining — the creature he encounters is in fact a crocodile, but in the darkness of the abyss, anything seems possible. ↩
桃花岛 – Táohuā Dǎo. Huang Yaoshi’s island stronghold, continued from LOCH era. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
郭芙 – Guō Fú. Her name meaning “lotus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
斤 – jīn. Traditional Chinese unit of weight, approximately one pound or half a kilogram. ↩
丹房 – Alchemy Chamber. One of the four specialised chambers in Passionless Valley. Gongsun Lü’e had stripped to her undergarments there to show her father that she bore no hidden Passion Severing Pill — a desperate act that also revealed her cinnabar birthmark to Yang Guo in the darkness of the crocodile pool. ↩
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. ↩
古墓 – Gǔmù. Underground tomb complex beneath Zhongnan Mountain, home of the Ancient Tomb School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
小龙女 – Xiǎolóngnǚ. Literally little dragon maiden. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
绝情谷 – Juéqíng Gǔ. Hidden valley ruled by Gongsun Zhi, known for its deadly Passion Flowers and the Passionless Divine Palm technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
寒玉床 – Hán Yù Chuáng. Bed carved from rare deep-cold jade found by Lin Chaoying. Training on it greatly accelerates neili cultivation by forcing the practitioner to circulate qi constantly to resist the cold. ↩
喇叭花 / 牛屎菊 – Morning Glory / Cow-dung Daisy. Yang Guo is making a self-deprecating joke. Morning glory is a common, unremarkable flower; “cow-dung daisy” is his own humorous invention, suggesting a flower that grows from cow dung — humble to the point of absurdity. ↩
King Yama (阎罗王). Judge and ruler of the underworld in Chinese Buddhist and folk mythology. Five Ugly Men invoke him here as the equivalent of Death itself. ↩
程英 – Chéng Yīng. Her name meaning “heroine” or “outstanding”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
陆无双 – Lù Wúshuāng. Her name meaning “peerless” or “without equal”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
龙眼 – Longan. Literally “dragon eye,” a small tropical fruit native to southern China and Southeast Asia. Seed is round, smooth, and dark, about the size of a marble — a fitting comparison for the size of a luminous pearl. ↩
绝情丹 – Juéqíng Dān. Antidote for passion-flower poison from the Passionless Valley. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
灵芝 – língzhī. Rare fungus prized in traditional Chinese medicine; specimens of a thousand years or more were believed to greatly increase neili. ↩
老顽童 – lǎo wán tóng. Zhou Botong’s nickname, reflecting his playful, childlike nature. ↩
周伯通 – Zhōu Bótōng. His name meaning “elder who understands all”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Term refers to the jianghu: the subculture of wandering knights-errant, martial artists, and sect members who live outside mainstream society, governed by its own codes of honour, loyalty, and vengeance. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
人皮面具 – Human-skin mask. Rénpí miànjù. Disguise mask crafted to look like real human skin, capable of transforming the wearer’s appearance completely. Huang Yaoshi is known for crafting these. Yang Guo received his from Cheng Ying. ↩
公孙止 – Gōngsūn Zhǐ. His name meaning “to cease” or “to stop”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
生辰八字 – Eight Characters of Birth. In Chinese tradition, a person’s birth time is recorded using the sexagenary cycle, producing eight characters (two each for year, month, day, and hour). These are used in fortune-telling and matchmaking. Qiu Qianchi knowing Lü’e’s exact birth hour proves she is her mother beyond any doubt. Jiashen year, second month, third day, xu hour — the xu hour is 7:00—9:00 PM in the traditional Chinese time system. ↩
枣子 – Jujube. Fruit of the jujube tree (Ziziphus jujuba), also known as Chinese date or red date. Trees growing in the cavern, originating from a single fruit that fell through the opening years ago, provided Qiu Qianchi’s only sustenance during her fourteen-year imprisonment. ↩
达尔巴 – Dá’ěrbā. Golden Wheel National Preceptor’s second disciple. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
金轮国师 – Jīnlún Guóshī. Mongol Empire’s national teacher and martial arts adept. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
裘千尺 – Qiú Qiānchǐ. Gongsun Zhi’s wife and Qiu Qianren’s younger sister; known as Iron Palm Lotus. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
尺 – chǐ. Traditional Chinese unit of length, about a third of a metre. Ten chi make one zhang. ↩
安史之乱 – An-Shi Rebellion. Devastating rebellion against the Tang Dynasty led by the general An Lushan and later Shi Siming, lasting from 755 to 763 CE. It marked a turning point in Tang history, after which the dynasty never fully recovered. Many noble families fled the capital region for remote areas, explaining how the Gongsun clan came to settle in Passionless Valley. ↩
铁掌水上飘 – Tiězhǎng Shuǐshàng Piāo. Qiu Qianren’s famous sobriquet. ↩
一灯大师 – Yīdēng Dàshī. Literally one-lamp master; a Buddhist honorific title. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
杨康 – Yáng Kāng. His name meaning “health” or “peace”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
完颜萍 – Wányán Píng. Her name meaning “duckweed”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
裘千丈 – Qiú Qiānzhàng. Qiu Qianren’s elder twin brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
邱千仞 – Qiū Qiānrèn. Chief of the Iron Palm Clan, known as Iron Palm Floats on Water. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
阴阳倒乱刃法 – Yīnyáng Dàoluàn Rènfǎ. Gongsun Zhi’s signature technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
儿 – ér. Diminutive term of endearment, especially for a child or lover. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
砒霜水 – Arsenic Solution. Arsenic trioxide, known in Chinese as pishuang. Deadly poison that has been used in China for centuries, both as a murder weapon and, in carefully controlled doses, in traditional medicine. By soaking the Passion Severing Pills in arsenic solution, Qiu Qianchi created a cruel dilemma: take the antidote and die from arsenic poisoning, or refuse it and die from the Passion Flower’s poison. ↩
时辰 – shíchén. Traditional Chinese unit of time equal to two hours. Day was divided into twelve shichen, each named after one of the Earthly Branches. ↩
千斤坠 (Qiānjīn Zhuì). “Thousand-Catty Anchor.” An neili technique that roots the practitioner to the ground with immense weight. ↩
樊一翁 – Fán Yīwēng. His name meaning “Fan, the one old man”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
灵台穴 – Lingtai Acupoint. Located on the spine below the sixth thoracic vertebra. In acupoint lore, the Lingtai (“Spirit Platform”) governs the flow of energy through the Governing Vessel meridian.” ↩
巨骨穴 – Jùgǔ Xué. Literally great bone. Acupoint in the hollow of the shoulder on the large intestine meridian; striking it can numb the limb. See Wikipedia. ↩
人中穴 – Renzhong Acupoint. Philtrum acupoint, located in the groove between the nose and upper lip. It is the primary emergency revival point in traditional Chinese medicine, used to restore consciousness. ↩
凤冠霞帔 – Phoenix Crown and Ceremonial Cape. Traditional Chinese bridal attire. Phoenix crown is an elaborate headdress adorned with phoenix imagery, while the ceremonial cape (xiapei) is a richly embroidered outer garment. Together they represent the highest form of formal bridal dress. ↩
潇湘子 – Xiāoxiāng Zǐ. Literally Master of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
尹克西 – Yǐn Kèxī. His name meaning “overcome the west”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
马光佐 – Mǎ Guāngzuò. His name meaning “bright assistance”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
郭靖 – Guō Jìng. His name meaning “tranquillity” or “pacification”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
黄蓉 – Huáng Róng. Her name meaning “lotus” or “hibiscus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
三宝 – Three Treasures. In Buddhism, the Three Treasures (or Three Jewels) are the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the monastic community). Taking refuge in the Three Treasures is the formal act of becoming a Buddhist. ↩
慈恩 – Cí’ēn. Buddhist monastic name taken by Qiu Qianren upon his ordination. Ci means “compassion” and en means “grace.” ↩

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