Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain by Jin Yong (23 page)

"Nevertheless, Phoenix proved spectacularly wild in his feats. He immediately accommodated himself by bringing in both his elbows while simultaneously aiming the point of his sword at his own chest: a beautiful and timely move. Gully was appalled, fancying that Phoenix, in his defeat, had resorted to reversing his blade to take his own life. Thereupon, Gully cried out in alarm, 'Halt! Brother Phoenix!'

"Phoenix had already had the tip of his sword nipped off right on the first day of the duel, blunting his weapon's sharp point. All at once, he dynamically tightened the muscle on his chest. The blade, already lodged in his chest, retracted like the devil, bouncing in recoil. This move was unpredictably wild. Gully, all the while, was intent on talking him out of committing suicide. He had scarcely expected Phoenix to take him by surprise. In a trice, the sword retracted with a spurt, darting the tang off the blade and placing itself right on Gully's chest, on the paralytic point Celestial Abode.

"The Celestial Abode is a governing vital point of the human body system. On being piqued, Gully instantaneously dropped limp to the ground, like a rag. Thereupon, Phoenix propped him up with his hand, apologizing.

"Gully returned his apology with a smile. 'Brother Phoenix, your skills are inscrutably uncanny, defying both gods and demons. You have all my respect.'

"'If Brother Gully had not aided me,' retorted Phoenix, 'I could never have followed through this move.'

"Soon, both contestants seated themselves at a table and emptied three bowlfuls of liquor at once. A moment later, Gully was heard laughing loudly to himself. He picked up his knife and slashed it across his throat. Bright red blood came gushing forth in an unstaunchable stream. He breathed his last, lying face-downward on the table.

"I stood for a moment in stunned silence. I cast a look at Gully's wife. No trace of tears was on her face. Presently, she addressed Phoenix calmly, 'Please stay here a minute. Let me feed the baby one more time to give him a full stomach.' She then retired to her room. The mother rejoined the group a little while later. She gave the little one a big kiss, telling Phoenix smilingly, 'The baby is to take a nap after feeding.' Gully's wife then passed Phoenix her baby, saying, 'I had promised my lord that I would raise the child myself. The last five days convinced me that Phoenix the Knight-errant represents the ideal of True Friendship and the Chivalric Code of Martial Brotherhood. As you promised to look after the child for us, I can spare myself the agonies of the next twenty years.' Thus saying, the woman pulled the lapels of her garment together and made several respectful bows to the Gilt-faced Buddha. Then she picked up her husband's knife and slashed it across her throat in a similar manner. The couple sat side by side on a long bench, the wife holding Gully by the hand. Strength gradually ebbed from her body and she crouched atop the body of her husband, never to stir again. I could not bear the sight any longer. Turning round, I saw the baby sleeping soundly in Phoenix's arms. A sweet smile could be seen dancing on the tiny, chubby face."

Chapter Five : Message

The Company remained silent after Tree had come to the end of his story. Though these brazen and forthright fighters professed to be hard and unemotional, after learning how Gully and his wife had heroically sacrificed their lives for a principle, they were all filled with sorrow.

Suddenly, a female voice cried out, "Great Master, I do not understand why the story told me by my father differs slightly from yours."

The Company turned round to identify the speaker: it was Orchid. No one had noticed when she had rejoined the group, as each had been listening intently to Tree's story.

Tree tried to offer an explanation, "It has been such a long time. This old monk may not be able to remember all the facts correctly. I am curious to know what your father has told you about the incident."

"My father recounted in great detail all the happenings in connection with the duel," said Orchid. "His description of the events of these few days bears close resemblance to what was witnessed by the Great Master. However, the scene of the passing away of both Gully and his wife, according to the version told me by my father, differs significantly from the Great Master's description."

A slight change in colour came over Tree's face. He merely acknowledged her words with 'Hm', without pursuing the matter any further.

Sign broke in, "Miss Miao, what exactly did your father tell you?"

Orchid reached for an embroidered pouch on her side, from which she drew a stick of pale grey incense. She lit the incense before putting it inside the thurible. A faint fragrance soon drifted to the nostrils of all in the hall. Orchid looked serious. Eventually, she started her story:

"I can still remember that, from the time when I was little, father would invariably look very unhappy during the winter months. No matter how hard I tried to cheer him up, he would never smile. Every year, at a time close to the Lunar New Year, father would, without fail, set up two mememorial tablets for the deceased in a secluded nook. One had the inscription 'Tablet for the Blood Brother, the Reverend Gully Hu, the Knight-errant'. The other had inscribed on it 'Tablet for the Blood Sister-in-law, Madam Gully'. A single-edged knife was placed next to the tablets. It was rusty all over. Apart from the rust, the knife looked exactly like an ordinary weapon. My father would order the cook to prepare numerous meat and vegetable dishes and entremets enough to fill one whole table. Then, he would pour out ten or more bowlfuls of wine. Every evening of the five days commencing on the twenty-second day of the twelfth moon, father would drain those bowlfuls beside the tablets. He would end by weeping unconstrainedly.

"I tried several times to ask father who Uncle Gully was, whose name I saw engraved on the tablet. But father just shook his head, refusing to give me an answer. Then came a year when father told me he would describe to me the duel between him and Uncle Gully once I had grown up and learned to become more sensible. The Great Master here has already described in great detail all the happenings of the duel.

"My father and Uncle Gully had been duelling for four days. The longer they challenged each other in the field, the more closely intimate they grew with each other. Neither would dream of wounding the other. Then came the fifth day of the duel. Aunt Gully finally detected a weak spot on father's back. Uncle Gully, therefore, brought off the move Stealing Jabs from All Angles accordingly, the minute he heard his wife cough, outstripping my father. Master Tree claimed that my father had mounted an uncanny move on a sudden so as to overpower Uncle Gully. But my father described that incident somewhat differently. On the day in question, Uncle Gully succeeded in making a move to forestall father, thereby making it impossible for him to riposte; instead he had to subject himself to Uncle Gully's mercy. Suddenly Uncle Gully leapt backward, crying, 'Brother Phoenix, there is something for which I need an explanation.'

"'I admit myself defeated,' said my father. 'What is in your mind?'

"Uncle Gully then proceeded, 'You have practised thousands of moves unique to the Miao's Swordplay over and over again, all flawlessly, and yet I do not understand why you invariably twitch your back muscle before moving into Piercing the Stork in Flight. My wife caught your weak spot instantly.'

"To this, father answered, 'My late father trained me vigorously in swordplay and was extremely strict with me. I can still recall one day at the age of eleven, while father was coaching me on the techniques and movements of this move, a flea suddenly irritated me on the back. I dared not soothe the tickling feeling by scratching with my hand, so I arched my back slightly in the hope of driving the insect away. The more I exercised the muscle on my back, the more itchy it became. The irritation became unbearable. Finding me in so awkard a state, my father admonished me for my slackness and gave me a good thrashing. This incident left a great mark in my memory. Since then, I have been in the habit of twitching my back muscle involuntarily on mounting that move, even though I do not feel itchy on the back. Your wife does have sharp eyes.'

"Smilingly Uncle Gully replied, 'I should not qualify as a winner if I received help from my wife. Grab this!' At this, he flung his knife to my father.

"My father reached his hand out for the knife, not knowing what Uncle Gully was really after. Uncle Gully then took my father's sword from his hand, telling him, 'The vigorous fighting over the past four days as well as the lengthy discussions on martial feats on the previous nights have enabled each of us to gain a thorough understanding of the techniques unique to each other's School for wielding the blade. Why do we not try things out in this way: I shall practise the moves of the Miao's Swordplay of your family and you will execute the moves of the Hu's Knife Techniques of mine. In this manner, we can judge who is the stronger of the two, and also neither of our names will be tainted whatever the outcome.'

"My father read Uncle Gully's mind immediately. The vendetta pursued by the Houses of Miao and Hu had deepened through ancestral transmission. If father had not made the acquaintance of Uncle Gully, there should have been no animosity between them. As you may already know, circulated widely among the Martial Brotherhood is the story about the sudden disappearance of my grandfather and Uncle Pastoral's father, which still remains a mystery to this day. And the bodies of these two elders have never been recovered. The outlawry and the banditry believed that Uncle Gully's wily scheme was in every way connected with these two missing men. My father only half believed in the truth of the rumour, having always known Uncle Gully to be a true acolyte of chivalry, high in principles and heroic in deeds. He was also spoken of with awe. It seemed most unlikely that Uncle Gully would ever resort to clandestine means to harm people. My father tried several times to arrange to meet with him, but all his efforts proved futile. Uncle Pastoral and Fan the Ringleader once invited father to journey to Liaodong Peninsula to redress the wrongs. My father had always been on intimate terms with Fan the Ringleader. He had never had much respect for Uncle Pastoral. Oh! Pardon me, Sister Tian, I am sorry. Do accept my apology, but these were the very words of my father. He would rather take this matter into his own hands than join Uncle Pastoral. On this occasion, having learned that Uncle Gully would journey also to the Interior Empire, my father took the opportunity to accept the invitation of both Fan the Ringleader and Uncle Pastoral to join them in Cangzhou in order to challenge Uncle Gully to a duel. But father's real intention of making that trip was to get the truth from Uncle Gully.

"Some initial inquiries soon confirmed that Uncle Gully was the real culprit in taking the lives of my grandfather and Uncle Pastoral's father. Even though father had held Uncle Gully in the great esteem befitting a hero fighter, he was pressed by a more urgent obligation to seek vengeance for his own father. My father would have hated to see the blood feud stemming from the animosity among the ancestors of the four families handed down to posterity. He sincerely hoped that he could wield some power in bringing this vendatta, more than a century old, to a conclusion. This certainly seemed right and wise when Uncle Gully proposed that they exchange their weapons in the ensuing combat. Should father emerge the victor, he would owe it to the Hu's Knife Techniques, and should Uncle Gully emerge the victor, he would owe it to the techniques of the Miao's Swordplay. Thus, defeat in the battle could be attributable only to individual fighters, with the reputation of both houses remaining untarnished.

"Presently, Uncle Gully and father swapped their weapons. They were soon attacking each other. The battle which ensued differed drastically from the fighting on the previous four days. Though the two combatants were adept fighters, they were not yet completely at ease practising unfamiliar moves, wielding new weapons in their hands. In addition to that, each contestant already had complete mastery of the esoteric specialties of his School, and could therefore anticipate his enemy's every move as each originated from his house. It followed logically that it would prove extremely difficult for either to overpower his adversary, drawing only on what skills he had acquired from the other during the previous four days. My father held that the battle on the day in question was by far the most threatening. Uncle Gully might look a boorish fellow, yet he was rather gifted in parading the techniques of the Miao's Swordplay. It appeared as though he had spent several vigorous years perfecting these martial feats. Suffice it to say, one notable example was his recent test of strength with Whiz Shang, the famed courageous fighter of Shandong Province. In that daring encounter, he had unravelled the moves of the Eight Diagram Swordplay, unique to Whiz's house, by practising solely the martial skills unique to the Miao Family. My father was not as fully endowed as Uncle Gully was, but as luck had it, he was well-versed in the whole gamut of martial arts, being equally proficient in each of the eighteen martial accomplishments. Though he was a novice when it came to practising the Hu's Knife Techniques, his early training in single-edged weapons enabled him to enter the battle enjoying an advantage, and he managed to survive the combat.