"NO, NO, NO, NO, HE DIDN'T RISE FROM THE DEAD, IT WASN'T his ghost – he wasn't actually dead."
"He faked his death?"
"Yes. You see, my martial brother got wind that the Venom of the West was lurking around our temple. He knew he was waiting for him to die so he could grab the Nine Yin Manual. Brother used a neigong technique to conceal his breathing, and kept his plan from us, in case our grief didn't seem genuine. The Venom is cunning. He'd probably have seen through the ploy and then have found another way to ambush us.
"Viper Ouyang saw my martial brother die with his own eyes. You can imagine his horror when the dead man burst out of the coffin – very much alive. The Venom was paralysed with shock. Brother jabbed him right between the eyebrows with a Yang in Ascendance mixed with the power of Cosmos neigong.
"The Venom had always been wary of my brother. And he was so stunned by the resurrection that he couldn't react fast enough to defend himself. Brother managed to negate his Exploding Toad kung fu with ease. Viper Ouyang had put many years of hard work into this ultimate series of moves. But all he could do now was run, with his tail between his legs.
"With the Venom gone, my martial brother sat cross-legged on the altar table, laughing. The Yang in Ascendance really drains one's internal energy, so I left him alone to channel his qi around his body, and ran off to find my martial nephews. They were thrilled to hear their shifu was alive, but we came back to a terrible sight.
"Brother had slumped to one side. There was a strange look on his face. I rushed over to him. He was ice cold to the touch. This time, he really had left us. He had beaten off Viper Ouyang for the time being, but we all knew the Venom would be back when he had recovered his strength. We were no match for him, so I took the Manual and headed south.
"My plan was to hide it in a cave in Yandang Mountain. Who would have guessed I'd bump into the Heretic along the way? He has a high opinion of himself. He would never try to take the Manual by force, like that shameless Viper Ouyang. But his young wife was with him and everything went wrong from there."
This must have been Lotus's mother! Guo Jing wondered how she had got involved with the Nine Yin Manual.
"The Heretic was looking very pleased with himself. He told me he was newly wed. She was beautiful. But I've never understood why anyone would want to get married. You know, keep a woman at home all the time. Why? I mean, even someone as clever as Apothecary Huang had fallen for this trap! Naturally, I teased him about it. He was in very good spirits, he wasn't offended at all. He even invited me to their celebrations.
"It was very nice of him, but you will remember that I was on my way to Yandang Mountain. I knew I mustn't tarry and so I made my excuses. And I ended up telling them about how my martial brother had died after striking Viper Ouyang.
"When I finished my story, the young madam begged me to show her the Manual. She was very persistent. She kept saying she didn't know any martial arts. She just wanted to understand how a book could have caused the deaths of so many martial masters.
"Of course, I refused, but the Heretic never said no to his beloved wife. So, he said to me, 'I can vouch that she has no martial knowledge – she just loves anything out of the ordinary. It won't do any harm, letting her take a look. If I, Apothecary Huang, so much as glance at it, I will gouge out my own two eyes and present them to you.'
"I kept shaking my head. I knew a master like Old Heretic Huang would for certain be a man of his word, but the Manual was too important. He was getting impatient. 'I know you're in a difficult position. If you do this for my wife, I promise to repay the Quanzhen Sect's kindness. But, if you continue to refuse me, well . . . I won't do anything to you – after all, we are acquainted – but I don't have any such relationship with your Quanzhen disciples.'
"I understood his meaning. He wouldn't pick a fight with me over the Manual, because it wouldn't be gentlemanly. But, if I didn't comply, he would take it out on my martial nephews. I'd bring trouble on everyone if I crossed him."
"Elder Ma and Elder Qiu couldn't beat Apothecary Huang," Guo Jing said.
"So, I said, 'Heretic, if you have a problem with the Hoary Urchin, take it out on the Hoary Urchin. Why involve my martial nephews? Surely that would be seen as picking on your juniors?'
"His wife giggled at my nickname. 'Brother Zhou,' she said, 'we're just joking with you – don't get upset! I don't need to see your precious Manual.' Then she turned to her husband. 'It sounds like this Viper Ouyang has taken the Manual. I don't think Brother Zhou has it with him. Don't press him any further. It will only make him lose face. After all, he can't show me what he hasn't got.' The Heretic laughed and said to me, 'Hoary Urchin, I'll help you find the Venom. You can't beat him alone.'"
"They were trying to rile you!" Now Guo Jing understood where Lotus got her temperament.
"I knew what they were trying to do, of course, but I couldn't let it go like that, so I replied, 'The Manual is here with me and I don't mind letting Madam take a peek. But I can't have you saying the Hoary Urchin can't keep the Manual safe. We'll have to fight that one out first.'
"Apothecary Huang was in an incredibly good mood. 'Fighting causes bad blood. Let's test our mettle with childhood games.' His wife clapped and cheered before I could even answer. 'That's a great idea! What about marbles?' That game was my speciality, so I agreed immediately. Then she added, 'Brother Zhou, if you lose, you'll have to let me look at the Manual. If you win, what would you like?'
"Apothecary Huang spoke before I could answer her: 'The Quanzhen Sect has its treasures and so does Peach Blossom Island.' He pulled a black shirt covered in little spikes from his bag. Can you guess what it was?"
"Hedgehog Chainmail," Guo Jing replied instantly.
"Correct! So you know about it too? Old Heretic Huang held the steel shirt up and said, 'You don't need this to protect you, but, one day, when you find your lady urchin and give birth to a little baby urchin, this might come in very handy. No-one would pick on them. If you win, this most treasured object from Peach Blossom Island is yours.' And I said to him, 'Nothing can persuade me to marry and I definitely don't want any little urchins. But I'd be delighted to wear your Hedgehog Chainmail over my clothes, so everyone will know that the Lord of Peach Blossom Island lost to the Hoary Urch—' Madam Huang cut me off and said, 'Enough talking! Show us your skills!'
"So, we agreed on the rules. Nine marbles each, eighteen holes; whoever pots all nine marbles first, wins."
Guo Jing smiled. He had played the same game when he was little, against his anda Tolui, on the Mongolian steppe.
"I never go anywhere without my lucky marbles. It didn't take us long to find a spot for our contest. It gave me a chance to observe Madam Huang, too. I could tell she had never had a day's martial training, from the way she moved and held herself.
"Anyway, I dug the holes in the ground and let Apothecary Huang choose his marbles. He grabbed them without looking. He must have thought he'd win for sure, with his skill with secret weapons and Divine Flick kung fu. But the holes I dug were a little different. If you don't use a particular blend of force and spin, the marble will pop right out after it's gone in. You have to pull back your strength just before you send the marble flying, to dampen the force of the rebound."
Guo Jing was impressed. These techniques were certainly not familiar to the Mongolian children he knew, and he could hear the pride in Zhou Botong's voice as he relived the game.
"The Heretic flicked three marbles, but they all bounced out again. By the time he understood the trick, I had scored five times. He learned fast, though. He started flicking my marbles into tough spots as he fired his towards the holes. He managed to get three points. But I already had such a lead, how could he catch up? We tussled for a good while, and eventually I scored again. I was so far ahead now, even if the gods descended right at that moment, they couldn't have turned the game around for him. Apothecary Huang had lost! I was jubilant. Then he started to play dirty . . ."
"Did he lock your pressure points?" Guo Jing asked.
"Of course not! He's nasty, but not a brute! He knew he couldn't win, so he started putting greater strength into his flicks. He sent his three remaining marbles into mine. I also had only three left. Somehow, he managed to shatter all of mine into tiny bits and yet not a scratch appeared on his!"
"What? So you didn't have any marbles left!"
"Exactly. I had to watch him slowly flick his marbles into the holes, one by one . . ."
"But that's cheating!"
"I protested too, but the Heretic said, 'My dear Hoary Urchin, we did say whoever bags all nine marbles first wins, didn't we? You can't deny that, can you? Let's not get upset about your smashed marbles right now. After all, I could have taken them by force.'
"He played dirty, but I had no-one but myself to blame, since I agreed to the rules. I had to admit defeat. So, I said to Madam Huang, 'I will lend you the Manual, my lady, but you must return it to me today. Before nightfall.'
"I had learned my lesson. If I didn't specify a time, she could have easily told me, 'We didn't say how long you'd lend it to me.' You know, ten years, a hundred years – it's still a loan!"
"Brother is very clever to have thought of that! I would have fallen for their tricks again."
Zhou Botong shook his head. "There are very few people in the world as smart and quick-witted as the Heretic. I've no idea where he found this wife of his. She was just as clever, if not more so. But I can't understand how such a clever man still fell for the whole stupid trap of marriage!
"Anyway, Madam Huang gave me a smile and said, 'Brother Zhou, you might be known as the Hoary Urchin, but your mind is very sharp! Don't worry, I'll sit right here and give it back to you as soon as I'm done. I promise it will be before sunset. You're welcome to sit with me.'
"So I took the Manual from inside my shirt and handed both volumes to her. She sat down on a rock under a tree and started to thumb through it. Apothecary Huang could tell I was worried. 'Hoary Urchin,' he said, 'how many people under the heavens could hope to defeat us?' 'You?' I replied. 'Perhaps none. But at least four or five can beat me, and you're one of them.'
"He laughed, then said, 'You're too kind. The four of us – the Venom, the King, the Beggar and myself – each have our strengths, but we are more or less evenly matched. You said your martial brother sent Viper Ouyang fleeing back to the west. Iron Palm Water Glider wasn't at the contest, and, however wonderful his kung fu might be, I doubt he's better than us. Hoary Urchin, I dare say you're next in line among the Greats. If we were on the same side, we'd be invincible. So why are you so nervous? Who could steal your precious Manual with us standing guard over it?'
"I nodded and relaxed a little. Madam Huang pored over each page, mouthing the words silently. It was absurd. She was reading the most advanced and intricate martial tract ever written, yet she didn't know any kung fu. She might recognise every character, but she wouldn't be able to make out the meaning of half a sentence.
"She read it slowly, from cover to cover. It took more than two hours. I was getting impatient. You couldn't imagine my excitement when she reached the final page. At last, I thought, she's done. Then she started all over again. But it was much quicker, this time; it only took her the time it takes to drink a pot of tea to finish it.
"She handed the Manual back to me with a smile and said, 'You were tricked by the Venom of the West. This is not the Nine Yin Manual!' I couldn't believe my ears, so I asked her, 'How could that be? It was in my martial brother's possession at all times. The covers look the same!' She replied with absolute certainty, 'Viper Ouyang swapped it for a common book about fortune telling and divination.'"
"Viper Ouyang switched it for another book, just before Immortal Wang burst out from the coffin?" Guo Jing could not believe his ears.
"That was what she was implying, but I knew the Heretic was full of tricks and I reckoned she was the same. She must have noticed my disbelief. 'Have you read the Nine Yin Manual?' she asked, and I could only tell her the truth. 'No-one has set eyes on its contents since my late brother took possession of it. He fought for the right to guard the Manual, to stop it from causing more havoc in the wulin. He didn't want it for personal gain. He forbade Quanzhen disciples from learning the kung fu within.'
"Then she said, 'Immortal Wang's selfless benevolence is most admirable, but it is also the reason why you were tricked. Look, Brother Zhou, see for yourself.' She showed me the Manual. I kept my eyes averted. My brother's last words were fresh in my mind.
"Seeing my reaction, she continued, 'This is a popular divination book in the south – it's worth not half a candareen. Even if this is the Nine Yin Manual, surely there's no harm in reading the text, as long as you don't put the words into practice? Your martial brother said you couldn't learn, but he didn't say you couldn't look, did he?'
"She was very persuasive. I turned to the first page. There, before my eyes, were descriptions of the most advanced martial skills. It certainly wasn't a book about fortune telling or divination.
"Madam Huang watched me read a few pages before she spoke again. 'I read this book when I was five. I know it inside out. Nine out of ten children in the south know the whole text. I'll recite it for you, if you don't believe me.' She started from the beginning. It flowed from her like water. I checked against the Manual in my hands. Every word she uttered was the same as what was written down. I felt like I'd been plunged into a cave of ice.
"She recounted the first few pages, word for word, then said, 'I can probably remember what it says on any page you choose. Just give me the first line.' So I did as she asked, and, like she said, she knew it inside out. She could recite any page, without a moment's hesitation.
"Old Heretic Huang laughed and laughed. A rage burned in my heart. I ripped the cover off and tore it to shreds. Just as I was about to tear the pages too, I noticed an odd look on the Heretic's face. I realised something wasn't quite right and stopped.
"Then the Heretic spoke: 'There's no need to throw a tantrum, Hoary Urchin. The Hedgehog Chainmail is yours.' I didn't know, then, what an utter fool I'd been. I thought maybe he felt bad that his wife had discovered the Manual had been switched, and he wanted to offer me a consolation. I'd never been so distressed in my life, but I still knew I couldn't take the most treasured object of Peach Blossom Island for nothing.
"So I thanked him and returned to my hometown. I decided to shut my door and focus on my kung fu. I believed Madam Huang. I really thought Viper Ouyang had switched the Manual, but I still didn't believe I could defeat him. Perhaps, if I cut myself off from the world for five years to work on some really powerful kung fu, I could go west in search of him. By then, I'd be able to give the Venom such a beating, he'd never walk again. And he'd have no choice but to give me back the Manual. My brother left it in my care. It was my duty to look after it."
"How could you let the Venom get away with it! You could have taken Elder Ma and Elder Qiu with you. That would have given you the upper hand, surely?" Guo Jing suggested.
Zhou Botong looked at Guo Jing and sighed. "If only I wasn't so intent on winning . . . then I would have realised I'd been fooled a lot sooner. If I had talked to Ma Yu, he would have probably noticed the signs I was oblivious to."
2
"A YEAR OR SO LATER, RUMOURS BEGAN TO FLY AROUND THAT Twice Foul Dark Wind had acquired the Nine Yin Manual," Zhou Botong continued. "People were saying that the disciples of Peach Blossom Island had learned the kung fu contained within its pages and were behaving savagely. I didn't believe it at first, but the story kept circling round and round the wulin.
"Another year passed. Qiu Chuji came to my home. He told me he had been investigating the rumours and he had confirmation that the second volume of the Nine Yin Manual was in their hands. I was furious. I muttered out loud to myself, 'Apothecary Huang is a terrible friend!' Qiu Chuji overheard me and asked, 'What do you mean, martial uncle?' So I told him, 'He went to Viper Ouyang for the Manual and he didn't tell me about it! Now he's got the book. Even if he isn't going to return it to me, he should at least have the courtesy to tell me!'"
"Maybe he intended to return it to you, but his unfilial disciples stole it before he had the chance?" Guo Jing said. "He seemed very angry about it. He broke the legs of his four other disciples and banished them. And they didn't have anything to do with the Manual."
Zhou Botong shook his head sadly. "You're a simple, honest fellow, like me. You wouldn't have realised you'd been tricked, if you were in my place. Qiu Chuji stayed with me for a few days and we worked on some moves together. Two months later, he came back to tell me Hurricane Chen and Cyclone Mei had indeed stolen the Manual and were practising some unspeakable techniques: the Nine Yin Skeleton Claw and Heartbreaker Palm. He took a great risk listening in on them and eventually he heard them say that Apothecary Huang had stolen the Manual from me. He hadn't taken it from Viper Ouyang!"
"Did Madam Huang switch the Manual?"
"As I told you, she wasn't trained in the martial arts. Still, I made sure not to take my eyes off her, even for a second. She didn't switch it – she swallowed it whole. She memorised the whole thing!"
"How is that possible?"
"How many times do you have to read something before you can remember it?"
"If it's a simple text, maybe thirty or forty times. Long and difficult ones, perhaps seventy or eighty, even a hundred. Some texts I just can't learn, however hard I try."
"Exactly, but, well, you aren't particularly smart."
"I know I'm slow – both in kung fu and in reading."
"Forget about reading, for now; let's stick to something we know. So, when your shifu teaches you a new martial move, he has to demonstrate it dozens of times before you get it?"
"Yes . . ." Guo Jing answered sheepishly. "Sometimes I get the gist, but can't remember the details. Sometimes the details are there, but I don't know how to put it all together."
"But you do know that there are people who can learn a whole set of kung fu from watching it once?"
"Definitely! Lotus, Lord Huang's daughter, can do that. Count Seven never had to repeat a move more than twice when he taught her."
"If she's that smart, I hope she isn't like her mother." Zhou Botong said with a sigh. "The poor woman contracted the plague of death at such a young age. She read the Manual twice that day and remembered every single word. She wrote it down for her husband the moment I left."
Guo Jing said, after a long pause, "So Madam Huang didn't understand the text, but she was able to memorise it from the first line to the last. It's hard to believe anyone could be so clever."
"You've heard the phrase, 'Through the eyes, into the mind', right? Your girlfriend can probably do it too. I was so frightened and ashamed when I heard Qiu Chuji's report. I immediately summoned all seven martial nephews and we decided we must take the Manual back.
"Qiu Chuji said to me, 'Martial uncle, you don't need to attend to the matter personally. You are their senior, we wouldn't want the masters of the jianghu to claim that you pick on the young. However strong Twice Foul Dark Wind may be, I doubt they're on the same level as the disciples of the Quanzhen Sect.'
"So I sent Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi to track them down. The rest remained in reserve, keeping their ears to the ground, to make sure Huang's disciples didn't slip through our fingers."
"They wouldn't have been able to beat the Seven Immortals of the Quanzhen Sect." Guo Jing remembered that night on the cliff in Mongolia, when the Six Freaks pretended to be Ma Yu's martial siblings.
"Yet, by the time Chuji and Chuyi arrived in Henan, Twice Foul Dark Wind had left. They had taken too many innocent lives practising their infernal kung fu, and the heroes of the Central Plains had banded together to stop them. Outnumbered, they had to retreat, but no-one knew where to. They killed a few more men of the wulin as they made their getaway."
"What did you do after you lost Twice Foul Dark Wind?" Guo Jing asked.
"I went to confront Old Heretic Huang. I didn't wait for Qiu Chuji and his brethren to come back. I went to Peach Blossom Island alone to find answers. The Heretic said to me, in his twisted logic, 'Brother Bottom, Apothecary Huang never broke his word. I said I would not glance at your Manual – and I did not. The Nine Yin Manual I read was set down by my wife. It wasn't yours.'
"I was furious and demanded to see her. He said, with a wry smile, 'My wife is dead.' I didn't expect that and my few words of condolence set him off further. 'Brother Bottom, no more pretence. If you hadn't gone around boasting about your cursed Manual, my wife wouldn't have left me behind.' I asked him, 'What do you mean?' He just glared at me with rage. Then a tear rolled from the corner of his eye and he broke down and wept.
"In the end, he told me everything. Madam Huang knew her husband was interested in the Nine Yin Manual and memorised it for him. But, though the Heretic now had the Manual, his pride kept him from practising any of its kung fu. He said that, as my martial brother had never sought to learn from it, if Apothecary Huang chose to study its contents, then he would be inferior to Double Sun Wang Chongyang. He just wanted to make sense of one strange passage at the very end, which was contained in the volume stolen by Hurricane Chen and Cyclone Mei.
"Madam Huang tried to recreate the text to comfort her husband, but it had been months since she had crammed it into her mind without comprehending a word of it. Needless to say, she'd read many other books and poetry since. How could she still remember it, word for word? She was eight months with child at the time, but she stayed up for several days and nights, racking her brains for any remnants of the Manual. She did manage to set down seven or eight thousand words, but much of the second volume was beyond her, and she could barely remember anything of the gibberish at the end.
"By the end, she was so physically and mentally exhausted, she gave birth prematurely. She was burnt out in every way. There was nothing Apothecary Huang could do to revive her, even with his vast medical knowledge.
"The Heretic has always directed his rage at others, shifting the blame. You can imagine how the grief rocked him. He rambled on and on as tears streamed down his face. With his Zhejiang accent, he kept calling me 'Bottom' instead of 'Botong'. I let it pass. It wasn't the time to debate pronunciation.
"Eventually, I said to him, 'You're a martial man. Does it not bother you that you're a figure of fun in the martial world because you place so much value on your relationship with your wife?' He answered proudly, 'My wife stood head and shoulders above anyone else.' I've always found this 'one man, one woman' thing ridiculous, so I said, 'You can focus on your martial skills, now that she's dead. I'd rejoice, if I were you. I'd have been willing it to happen. You know, it's great – it's brilliant that she's gone. The sooner, the better. Congratulations! Many congratulations!'"
"How could you say that?"
Zhou Botong rolled his eyes. "Why can't I say what I truly believe? Anyway, once I said those words, rage consumed the Heretic and he thrust his palm at me. That was how our fight started."
"Did you lose?"
"Do you think I'd be here if I'd won?" Zhou Botong laughed. "He broke both my legs. It was his way of forcing me to give him my copy of the second volume of the Manual. He said he wanted to burn it as an offering for his wife. So I hid the Manual in this cave and placed myself at the entrance. I told him, if you try to take it by force, I'll destroy it. And he said, 'I'll find a way to make you step aside.' And I told him, 'We'll see about that.'
"That was five and ten years ago. I told you he's conceited. He won't sink so low as to starve me or poison me. He's tried a thousand ways to lure me away. Oh, but he refuses to take advantage when I leave the cave to answer the call of nature. Sometimes, I take two hours. I know how tempting it is for him, but he's managed to resist, so far."
Zhou Botong chuckled and Guo Jing also laughed, yet was secretly astonished that a martial master could bring a quarrel down to such a base level.
3
"FOR FIFTEEN YEARS, THE HERETIC TRIED EVERYTHING, AND failed." It had taken Zhou Botong a long time to stop laughing and regain his composure. "But, if it weren't for you, the Manual would be in his hands right now. He has played the 'Ode to the Billowing Tide' many times, but it's never bothered me that much. Who'd have thought he'd put in all those new flourishes? Last night, he almost caught me off guard. My dear brother, thank you."
"What are you going to do now?" Guo Jing was still flummoxed by how a book could cause so much havoc and ruin so many lives.
"We'll see who lives longer." Zhou Botong dissolved into laughter again. "Remember Huang Shang? He won by outliving all his enemies."
Guo Jing was not convinced that hoping to outlive Apothecary Huang was the best way out. Then he remembered he too was stuck on this island, in this cave, with no word from Lotus. "Why didn't Elder Ma and the others try to rescue you?"
"They probably don't know I'm here. Even if they do, every tree, rock and hill here is enchanted; they won't be able to get anywhere unless the Heretic lets them in. And, besides, I won't leave until this fight has a winner."
Guo Jing had greatly enjoyed the company of his new sworn brother. Despite his age, he had an endearing childlike frankness. Now, Guo Jing's mind wandered back to Lotus. He wished he knew where to find her.
The sun was blazing in the sky. The mute servant returned with their midday meal.
When they had finished the food, Zhou Botong said, "I may have been stuck here for fifteen years and counting, but my time has not been wasted. I know my kung fu has improved a great deal. There are no distractions in this cave. It would have taken me at least twenty-five years to get the same results elsewhere. My biggest problem is not having a sparring partner. I have to get my hands to fight each other."
"How does that work?"
"Let's say my right hand is the Heretic and my left is the Hoary Urchin," Zhou Botong said, raising his hands to demonstrate. "Now, the right throws a palm strike, like this. My left deflects it and returns the favour with a punch. And now I'm fighting." The blows grew faster and more intense, the left hand attacking, while the right defended.
Guo Jing watched with a smile: yet another of Zhou Botong's eccentricities. But, before long, he was transfixed. He was witnessing a unique and complex brand of kung fu.
As every student of the martial arts knew, when throwing a punch, striking with the palm, wielding a sword or thrusting a spear, the different motions of the hands worked together towards the same goal: to attack or to defend. Yet Zhou Botong's hands were attacking each other's vital points – the wrist, the back of the hand, the palm – and responding to the other's offensive with countermoves. Each hand employed a completely different kung fu!
"You didn't make the full move with your right hand just now. Why?" Guo Jing asked suddenly.
Zhou Botong stopped and appraised his sworn brother with a satisfied smile. "Your eyes are sharp. You're right. Come, spar with me. I'll show you."
Guo Jing put his hand against his brother's outstretched palm.
"Careful, now. I'll push you to the left."
Energy flowed from Zhou Botong's hand. Guo Jing answered with a move from the Dragon-Subduing Palm. The two internal forces clashed, propelling Guo Jing half a dozen steps back. His arm felt weak and numb.
"I just unleashed my full force on you. Now I'm going to let loose only a portion of it."
Their palms clashed once more. The moment Guo Jing sensed Zhou Botong's strength, it vanished. The energy kept appearing and disappearing, rocking his balance.
Thud! Guo Jing hit the ground, his face in the dust. He climbed back to his feet quickly, but the fall seemed to have plunged him into a daze.
"Do you see?" Zhou Botong asked.
Guo Jing shook his head.
"Well, it took me ten years stuck in this cave to work it out. My martial brother always told me how 'the immaterial beats the material and absence trumps excess'. I thought he was droning on about Taoist philosophy and shut my ears.
"But, five years ago, I had a moment of clarity as my hands were fighting each other. I can't really explain it, but I feel it and understand it now. Yet, without a sparring partner, I still couldn't quite believe it. Now you're here, it's just perfect. It'll hurt a bit, but you'll know what I mean once I've sent you flying a few more times."
Guo Jing looked reluctant and Zhou Botong changed tack. "My good brother, I've been here for fifteen years. All I've ever wanted is someone to exchange a few moves with. When the Heretic's daughter was here, a few months ago, I was going to get her to spar with me, but her palm kung fu wasn't strong enough. And she never came back. I promise I won't make you fall too hard, my dear brother." His hands were poised to strike before he had even finished speaking.
Seeing how eager Zhou Botong was, Guo Jing relented. "I can handle a few falls."
After exchanging several moves, all the tension suddenly disappeared from Zhou Botong's palm. Guo Jing could not retrieve his strength fast enough and tipped forward again.
He swung his left arm out, hoping to change the momentum of the fall and find his equilibrium again. But nothing he could do was powerful enough to overcome the force that was flipping his body around in a somersault. He crashed down on his left shoulder.
"My good brother, I won't let you fall for nothing. Let me explain how I did it." Zhou Botong looked somewhat apologetic.
Guo Jing crawled to his feet and limped over.
"Do you know these lines from Laozi's Classic of the Way and Virtue? 'When clay is moulded, from its hollowness a vessel finds its use. When openings are made in a wall, from its hollowness a room finds its space.'"
Guo Jing blinked and shook his head, thoroughly confused.
Zhou Botong picked up a bowl. "If this was a solid piece of clay, could it hold any rice?"
Guo Jing shook his head again, amazed how he had never noticed such a simple and obvious truth.
"Think how you'd build a house. If there's no door or window, if wood and bricks are just piled up in a great big heap, is it a room? Has it got any use?"
Guo Jing shook his head once more, with a further spark of comprehension.
"Hollowness and suppleness are two fundamental concepts of the Quanzhen Sect's most advanced kung fu. 'When wholeness appears incomplete, fail it shall not; when abundance appears short, deplete it shall not.'"
Zhou Botong explained how these lines from Classic of the Way and Virtue related to the martial arts. Guo Jing listened with his whole being, trying to grasp their significance.
"Your shifu Count Seven Hong's kung fu represents the very best of external martial arts. Even though I know some internal skills from the Quanzhen Sect, I don't think I can beat him. But he's probably reached its apex. There isn't anywhere further to go with this type of martial knowledge.
"However, with Quanzhen neigong, there's no end to the learning. I've only just peeked through the doorway. My martial brother didn't win the title of the Greatest Martial Master Under the Heavens through sheer luck. If he was still alive today, he could beat the Heretic, the Venom and the others in half a day. He wouldn't have to fight them again for seven days and seven nights."
"I wish I could've seen Immortal Wang's martial magic. I know the Dragon-Subduing Palm is the most firm kind of strength. Does it mean my brother's kung fu is the most supple?"
"Yes, you've got it! The supple can overcome the firm. However, I wouldn't be able to send you flying if you were as good as Count Seven. Watch carefully, now."
Zhou Botong described the move he had just performed and explained how he controlled his energy, going into great detail, since he knew Guo Jing would be slow on the uptake.
With his solid grounding in Quanzhen neigong, Guo Jing began to get to grips with the basics after repeating it several dozen times.
"Are you still in pain? If not, can I throw you again?" Zhou Botong burned with anticipation.
"My body's fine, but I haven't perfected the move yet." Guo Jing played the motion over and over in his head, trying to carve it into his memory.
A moment passed. Zhou Botong's patience was stretched to breaking point.
"What about now? Have you learned it yet? Come on! Are you ready now?"
His interruption meant that it took even longer for Guo Jing to memorise the technique. But, after the time it takes to finish a meal, Guo Jing was finally ready to face Zhou Botong again.
At last, he understood how Apothecary Huang had dislocated his wrist by simply pulling in his stomach. It was the same kind of hollow strength that sent him flying this very moment.
4
ZHOU BOTONG WOULD HAVE HAPPILY FORGONE SLEEP TO SPAR all day and all night, but Guo Jing needed a few hours' rest to function properly. But, over the next few days, they practised every waking hour.
By now, poor Guo Jing had been sent sprawling at least seven or eight hundred times. Battered and bruised from head to toe, he finally grasped the underlying concept of Zhou Botong's technique.
Guo Jing withstood the falls with the same steely determination that had helped him acquire his kung fu. Enduring the pain through gritted teeth, he had now learned the whole Luminous Hollow Fist repertoire: seventy-two moves that Zhou Botong invented in the cave.
In no time at all, Guo Jing was able to manipulate his strength in the same hollow and supple way. Zhou Botong could no longer rock the young man's footing and send him flying.
A couple of days later, everything came together for Guo Jing. "When Master Hong taught me the Dragon-Subduing Palm, he kept stressing that I should reserve more energy than I propel. So it wasn't just about being fierce and firm."
"Indeed! That combination of suppleness and strength is what makes Count Seven Hong's kung fu so potent. I probably couldn't beat him, even when using Luminous Hollow Fist."
Time was passing much faster now. The days flew by. Guo Jing was growing ever more anxious about Lotus, but he had no way to find her or contact her. He came close to asking the mute servant who brought their meals on several occasions, yet, each time, Zhou Botong pulled him back.
One day, after lunch, Zhou Botong said, "You have now mastered the Luminous Hollow Fist. I can't throw you off your feet anymore. Let's play a new game."
"Of course! What have you got in mind?"
"A four-way fight!"
"Four-way?"
"That's right. Four. My left hand is one person; my right is another. You've got two hands, too. So, four altogether. No hand is allowed to help another hand. A four-hand melee. It'll be so fun!"
"It sounds great, but I can't fight separately with my hands."
"I'll teach you later. Let's try a three-way brawl first!" Zhou Botong launched two different kung fu moves, one with each hand.
Guo Jing was amazed. How did he retain the full power of the moves when he only performed them with one side of his body?
Soon, he was hard pressed by two strong opponents. Then, one of Zhou Botong's hands switched sides and came to his rescue. Now fighting two against one, Guo Jing found himself in the dominant position. But that did not last long; the helping hand withdrew and Zhou Botong's two hands attacked as a united front once again. Alliances were made and remade, always shifting. No single party could gain the upper hand.
Fighting was a tiring business. They paused to catch their breath and Guo Jing's mind turned to Lotus once more.
She'd love this! We could wage a six-handed battle.
The moment Guo Jing's pulse slowed to the resting rate, Zhou Botong began regaling him with ways of mastering this technique, which he named Competing Hands.
Wise men had said, "To do two things at once is to do neither," and they had also warned, "If the hands in unison draw a square and a circle each, neither would look angular or round."
Yet, the key to this very kung fu was to do two things at once and to do them well. So the first task Guo Jing was given was to draw, simultaneously, a square with one hand and a circle with the other.
At first, Guo Jing could only draw two circles or two squares, or shapes that were neither angular nor curved. Eventually, he realised the action was not unlike eating: bowl in the left hand, chopsticks in the right. The hands moved in different ways and performed separate tasks, yet, together, they put food in the mouth. Holding that idea in his head, he was able to draw the shapes as required.
Pleased that Guo Jing had grasped the underlying theory of the technique so quickly, Zhou Botong said, "You know, it'd take a lot longer if you didn't know the Quanzhen Sect's internal kung fu. Without your neigong training, you wouldn't be able to split your focus like that. Now, launch some moves from the Southern Mountain Fists with your left hand and the Yue Maiden Sword with your right."
These martial skills Guo Jing had learned from Woodcutter Nan and Jade Han were so ingrained that he could perform either kung fu, on its own, without thinking. Yet he now struggled to control his arms to create any semblance of the moves he had known so well since childhood.
Desperate to pass on his technique, Zhou Botong bombarded the young man with every trick and tip he could think of.
After several days of intensive training, Guo Jing could just about use different moves with each hand.
"Come! Your right hand and my left hand will be a team, and these two –" Zhou Botong grabbed Guo Jing's left hand with his right – "are their enemies."
Then he roared, "Let the battle commence!"
How could a young man not like a game like this? Following Zhou Botong's instructions, he plunged in, willing his right hand to fight his left. Guo Jing had never seen, nor heard, nor imagined such a wild combat. He could scarcely believe that it was happening and he was part of it.
Zhou Botong shouted prompts to sharpen the attack and tighten the defence. For the Hoary Urchin, this was a game, a little fun to alleviate his solitude. He had no idea he was teaching Guo Jing a peculiar and powerful kung fu that had no precedent.
One day, an idea came to Guo Jing. We can train our legs the same way and have an eight-way battle! Yet, he did not share the thought with his wayward brother. He dreaded to think of the consequences of making such a suggestion.
Days flew by quickly, thanks to this new diversion. One morning, they battled as four individuals. No alliances, no fixed opponents. Zhou Botong was in a more buoyant mood than usual, chuckling as he fired off his attacks.
Before long, Guo Jing found himself unable to stand his ground. His right hand buckled under the onslaught. Naturally, his left hand came to its aid.
But Zhou Botong kept the torrent of moves raining hard. Guo Jing could no longer split his moves between his hands, so the Hoary Urchin folded one arm behind his back to keep the fight fair.
With two hands working in unison, Guo Jing managed to push back Zhou Botong's single-handed offensive.
Zhou Botong laughed in triumph. "You lose! Your hands are using the same kung fu!"
Guo Jing hopped back. A sudden thought had struck him. Eventually, he spoke. "You fight with two separate forms of kung fu, one from each hand. That's like two persons firing off moves individually, is it not? If you were to use Competing Hands in an actual battle, your opponent would have to fend off two attackers – your two hands – at the same time. Doesn't that make it a very useful skill in combat? You can't double your strength, but you've got a great advantage, all the same!"
For Zhou Botong, Competing Hands was simply a game with which to amuse himself, a way to stop himself wilting from boredom as he whiled away the hours he spent stuck in his tiny cave. He had never considered its martial implications.
He digested Guo Jing's words for a moment and then sprinted out of the cave. He paced and paced, shrieking with laughter.
"Brother?" Guo Jing was worried. "Brother?"
Ignoring Guo Jing, he kept laughing.
Suddenly, he stopped. "I'm leaving, brother. Not to answer the call of nature. I'm leaving! I've become the Greatest Martial Master Under the Heavens. Apothecary Huang doesn't scare me anymore. Why can't he come here now? I'll send him flying, like petals on the wind!"
"Are you certain you can beat him?"
"My kung fu may still be a little inferior, but I can split myself in two. I'll be fighting two against one. No-one under the heavens can beat me again! It matters not how fancy Apothecary Huang, Count Seven Hong or Viper Ouyang's kung fu skills are. Can they beat two of Zhou Botong the Hoary Urchin?"
Pleased for his sworn brother, Guo Jing agreed that two Zhou Botongs would be rather a handful.
"Little brother, you have a good understanding of the principle behind Competing Hands. You know how to split your attack simultaneously. Keep up your practice. Give the technique time to mature inside you. In a few years, your kung fu will double too. It's a shame it can't increase internal strength by even a candareen. We'll have to split our energy between our hands, but no-one needs to know. We'll hit them quick and hit them hard, with different moves from each hand. We'll make their heads spin so fast that they can't spot the flaw."
5
FOR FIFTEEN YEARS, ZHOU BOTONG HAD DREADED THE DAY he would have to fight Apothecary Huang again; now, he wished his adversary would appear that instant. He would have sought the Heretic out, if he knew his way around the island's labyrinthine layout.
Full of impatience, the Hoary Urchin scanned the horizon all day, yet the first person he spotted was the servant approaching with their dinner.
He grabbed the man by the shoulders, shouting, "Bring Apothecary Huang here now! I want to show him my kung fu!"
Petrified, the servant said nothing, just kept shaking his head.
"Fie! I forget you can't hear me!" He let the man go and turned his attention to the food. "Let's have a feast tonight!"
The moment Zhou Botong lifted the lid, Guo Jing noticed the aromas were more fragrant than usual. There was a large bowl of his favourite dish, braised chicken with mushrooms. He picked up a spoon and tasted the broth. The delicate hint of salt teased out the sweetness of the chicken. His heart pounded in recognition. Lotus had made this for him.
The servant laid out the dishes. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to Guo Jing, until he clapped eyes on the dozen mantou steamed buns still inside the food carrier. On one of them, a very faint outline of a gourd was scratched onto the surface. He grabbed it and found a wax capsule hidden inside. He dropped it into his shirt pocket before Zhou Botong or the servant noticed anything was amiss.
They ate heartily because of their exertions during the day, but food was the last thing on their minds. Guo Jing gobbled down his dinner as quickly as possible, so he could read Lotus's message the moment the servant cleared up and left.
Zhou Botong was still coming to terms with the fact that he had accidentally invented an invincible form of kung fu. Absentmindedly, he grabbed a mantou with his right hand while trying out a few boxing moves with his left. He too wanted to finish the meal quickly, so he could return to his training. He started spooning broth and shoving bun into his mouth, and then stopped and laughed when he realised what he was doing.
"One mouth can't eat from two hands at once!"
From Guo Jing's perspective, Zhou Botong was taking an exceptionally long time with his meal. But, at long last, his sworn brother was finished with the buns and had gulped down all his soup. The servant packed up the plates and took his leave. Guo Jing took the note out and broke the wax casing.
My dear Guo Jing – he was overcome with joy at seeing Lotus's elegant handwriting – Papa and I have made up. I'll beg him to free you. Don't worry. I can't come to visit you yet, but I think about you every day. Lotus.
"I'll make sure the Heretic lets you go," Zhou Botong said, after reading the message. "He'll have no choice. And we won't beg him. We'll make him. If he refuses, we'll shut him in this cave for five, no, ten years . . . Actually, no, we won't lock him up. We don't want him to come up with some fantastic martial technique like Competing Hands!" Then he wandered off to practise.
Guo Jing sat cross-legged, with his eyes closed, in the fading light, to work on his internal energy. However, Lotus kept stealing into his mind, disturbing the silence and his peace within. It took him much longer than usual to purge all thoughts and worries. Eventually, he was able to channel his qi around his body. Then an idea popped into his head: my internal strength needs to work separately, as two distinct forces, or else the different moves from each hand will contain no substance.
He pressed a finger to one side of his nose and tried breathing with one nostril at a time. He persisted for the duration of one watch. Satisfied with the small improvement he had made, he gradually brought himself back to the present. A gale seemed to be blowing outside. He opened his eyes and saw hair and beard dancing in the night air.
Zhou Botong was practising the seventy-two moves of the Luminous Hollow Fist with his left hand and a Quanzhen Sect palm kung fu with his right hand. Though each move was slow, they parted the air with a whistle, a testament to great strength contained within.
Guo Jing watched in awe. He could sense the instantaneous flow of internal energy through Zhou Botong, switching from his left arm to the right and back again. The actions made by either hand contained his full strength.
Watching the Hoary Urchin practise, he realised his earlier notion of splitting his inner strength into left and right might not work, as the body only contained one set of meridians. But he could try mastering Zhou Botong's energy-transfer technique, between the two sides of the body. If he could propel his strength quickly, at will, from left to right and back again, which should not be too difficult, he could achieve an effect not dissimilar to adjusting the disposition of troops in the heat of battle.
"Argh!"
A cry ripped through Guo Jing's concentration. Then he heard a loud smack and caught sight of a long and floppy thing slapping against a tree trunk. When he looked back at Zhou Botong, he was swaying.
"Brother, are you alright?" Guo Jing rushed over to steady the older man.
"I got bitten by a snake. In the foot. Rot!"
Zhou Botong leaned his weight on Guo Jing's shoulders and hobbled back into the cave. He tore a strip from his shirt and bandaged it tightly around his thigh to slow the venom as it passed up through his veins.
Guo Jing pulled out the flint and tinder from inside his shirt and struck them together for light. His heart skipped a beat. The ruddy, youthful radiance had disappeared from Zhou Botong's face. The bite had already caused his calf to swell to twice its usual size.
"I've never seen any rotten snakes on this island. Where did this viper come from? The little pest wouldn't have caught me out if I hadn't been splitting my concentration to work on two . . ."
The Hoary Urchin's booming voice was beginning to tremble. Guo Jing surmised his sworn brother was still conscious only because his advanced internal kung fu had slowed the poison's progress. He needed to stop it from spreading. He could only think of one way.
He bent over and sucked on the wound.
"No! Don't . . . You'll die." Zhou Botong wanted to struggle, but he could barely feel his body and soon blacked out.
The only thing on Guo Jing's mind right now was saving his sworn brother. After nearly half an hour, he had managed to draw out the majority of the venom and spit it out onto the ground.
An hour later, Zhou Botong came to and croaked out what he thought were his last words: "I won't live to see tomorrow. I'm very happy to have a caring little brother like you."
Tears rolled down Guo Jing's cheeks. He had only known this brother for a matter of days, but he felt they had been best friends for decades. He could not believe the Hoary Urchin was about to die.
"The Nine Yin Manual is buried in a stone casket, just here, where I'm lying. It should be yours, but you won't live through the night after sucking out my poison. Well, we'll travel down to the underworld together. At least we'll never be bored. We can still do our four-man fights. No, four-ghost fights!" He cackled, his grief turning to demented elation. "I bet you the ghosts down there have never seen anything like it!"
Guo Jing was bemused by the talk of his death. He felt absolutely fine. He lit another match. A blackness shrouded Zhou Botong's face, extinguishing the childlike glow.
Noticing the light, Zhou Botong smiled at Guo Jing, then sucked in a mouthful of air in surprise. "How come you aren't affected by the poison at all? What magical panacea have you taken?"
That reminded Guo Jing of Greybeard Liang. "Perhaps it's the python blood I once drank? Maybe it's given me a resistance to snake venom?"
Zhou Botong gave it some thought, but before long he passed out again. Guo Jing massaged and pressed his acupressure points, but he could not elicit any response from his sworn brother. He felt around the wound. It burned like fire and the leg had swollen up even more.
Then Guo Jing heard his brother murmur:
"For the fourth time the loom is ready,
To weave a pair of lovebirds so they can take flight . . ."
"Brother, what did you say?"
"Pity the hair that grows grey before its time, pity . . ."
The poison had made the Hoary Urchin delirious.
Guo Jing sprinted out of the cave, scaled the tallest tree and shouted into the night, "Lotus! Lotus! Lord Huang! Lord Huang! Help, please! Help!"
But his voice reached no-one. Peach Blossom Island covered several dozen li, and Apothecary Huang's quarters were a long way away.
Hearing no response, Guo Jing rushed back to the cave with a desperate idea.
I'm not affected. Maybe my blood can repel the poison.
He groped around in the dark and found Zhou Botong's celadon drinking bowl on the ground. With the golden dagger given to him by Genghis Khan, he cut his left arm and held it over the bowl. The wound soon congealed and he made another cut.
Once the bowl was filled, Guo Jing shifted Zhou Botong, resting his sworn brother's head on his knees. He wrenched open his jaw and poured the blood into his mouth.
Weakened by the loss of so much blood, Guo Jing slumped against the wall of the cave and soon dozed off. He was woken by a slight pain on his arm, with no idea of how long he had been asleep.
Someone was dressing the wound.
He opened his eyes to a mass of dark hair.
"You – you're alive!" Guo Jing blinked.
"Yes! I'm fine now! You gave your life to save mine. The Ghosts of Impermanence were most annoyed. I reckon they won't be back for my soul for a good while," Zhou Botong said, as he showed off his swollen leg, no longer blackened by the poison.
6
THIS BROTHER OF MINE IS A SELFLESS SOUL. HE SUCKED THE poison from my wound knowing that it could kill him. For some reason, he didn't die and neither did I! How do I repay this gift of life? I haven't got any more kung fu to teach him.
This conundrum troubled Zhou Botong all day, until he went to bed.
When Double Sun Wang Chongyang took the Nine Yin Manual, it was not to benefit himself, but to curb its destructive influence on the wulin. As such, he declared that no disciple of the Quanzhen Sect should ever practise the kung fu within. Of course, Zhou Botong lived firmly by his martial brother's instruction, but he also could not forget Madam Huang's words: "Your martial brother said you couldn't learn, but he didn't say you couldn't look, did he?"
Over the fifteen years of captivity inside the cave on Peach Blossom Island, Zhou Botong had no other books with him and nothing to do. Flicking through the Manual was one way to pass the time, so, having read it countless times, he now knew it back to front.
The first volume detailed key Taoist theories about cultivating internal strength, as well as principles of fist and sword kung fu. The second volume contained all kinds of strange and wonderful martial skills. Everything from methods of training for them to the ways to defeat them. He knew that Madam Huang had been lying to him when she called it a book of divination and fortune telling.
Obsessed with the martial arts as he was, Zhou Botong was desperate to learn the kung fu within. He had no ambition to be hailed as the greatest martial artist in the world or to use the skills to avenge the wrongs he had suffered. He was purely driven by a curiosity and a passion for all things martial. He wanted to feel with his body how powerful the kung fu in the Manual was.
He knew the moves within must be magical. After all, Huang Shang read the whole of The Taoist Canon of Ten Thousand Longevities – a total of five thousand, four hundred and eighty-one volumes – and spent forty years thinking through ways to overpower all the kung fu he had encountered. He had also heard how Twice Foul Dark Wind terrorised the jianghu with just two sets of martial arts from the second volume. Imagine if he were to learn everything recorded within its pages!
Though he had read and thought about the Manual every day over the past decade and a half, he had never tried ro replicate the moves described, out of respect for his martial brother.
And yet, he longed to see the Manual in action.
The next morning, a brainwave came to Zhou Botong as he awoke: Guo Jing isn't officially a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect – I can teach him the Nine Yin Manual! Once he's learned everything, he can show them to me, one by one. He will have acquired the most powerful kung fu known to the martial world, and I will at last satisfy my curiosity without disobeying my martial brother's last wish!
Congratulating himself, he chuckled out loud. "Yes! This is the perfect plan!"
"What plan?"
Zhou Botong grinned, ready to reveal his grand idea. Then he remembered how Guo Jing had denounced the Manual as evil, because of Twice Foul Dark Wind.
I can teach him without telling him! Another moment of inspiration struck the Hoary Urchin. He hates the Manual because he's only seen the lowly moves Twice Foul Dark Wind learned from the second volume. He doesn't know that the cultivation of qi is described in the first volume. He doesn't know the Manual is about proper, honourable martial practice. I'll only tell him once he's learned it all. Then, he can throw as many tantrums as he wants, but he can't make his body forget the moves he's acquired!
Zhou Botong cared little if people loved him or hated him, insulted him or praised him. Nothing made him as happy as a good prank – and learning kung fu. He put on a serious face and set his scheme into motion.
"Brother, I've invented many other kung fu techniques during these years stuck in this cave. What do you say, shall I share a little more? We haven't got much else to do, anyway."
"It's so kind of you to offer, but Lotus said she's thinking of a way to free us."
"Well, has she freed us yet?"
"Er . . . no."
"Can't you learn a few more moves while you wait?"
"Of course!"
Don't be so eager! You've fallen straight into my trap! Zhou Botong was crying with laughter inside. He reassured himself repeatedly: his victim would benefit enormously and no-one would be hurt in the process.
Putting on his most solemn face, the Hoary Urchin began with the first volume of the Nine Yin Manual, selecting a few Taoist theories to share with Guo Jing. Naturally, the young man struggled to comprehend them, but Zhou Botong found within him a well of patience he did not realise he possessed, and he explained everything in slow and painful detail.
Once the basics were covered, Zhou Botong moved on to the second volume, which detailed training methods and countermeasures for a variety of kung fu. Before each lesson, he would step aside to look over the Manual to refresh his memory, but he made sure he kept well out of sight, in case Guo Jing grew suspicious.
Martial arts had never been taught in such a way before – or since. The instructor himself did not know the moves. He would only illustrate them verbally, and never once lifted a hand to demonstrate.
Once Guo Jing had grasped a few moves from the Manual, Zhou Botong would spar with him using Quanzhen kung fu. It was giddying to experience its power. The Hoary Urchin noted that the techniques recorded in the Manual were often superior to his own Quanzhen skills.
Even after Guo Jing had been learning the kung fu from the Nine Yin Manual for several days, he never once suspected the source of the martial knowledge. Delighted with how everything was going, Zhou Botong had taken to chuckling in his sleep.
At meal times, there was always one of Guo Jing's favourite dishes, lovingly prepared by Lotus. Though she had yet to visit him, the gesture was reassuring. He could devote himself wholeheartedly to learning kung fu.
Things got interesting when Zhou Botong had Guo Jing try out the All-Shattering Grip. The young man was told to focus his spirit, channel his qi, then tear at the rock face with his fingers.
After several attempts, Guo Jing turned to Zhou Botong. "Brother, is this from the Nine Yin Manual? I've seen Cyclone Mei doing something similar. She did it on a living person, plunging her fingers into the skull – it was savage!"
"How can you compare Cyclone Mei's infernal move with my orthodox invention? There are often similar forms in kung fu, but their roots differ. That's what truly matters!"
Zhou Botong made a mental note to stay away from this move. At the same time, he pitied Cyclone Mei for her misunderstanding and ignorance of the Manual's gifts.
What a silly woman! he thought. Yes, the text does say, Strength courses through the fingers, no matter can stand in their way. Shattering the skull of the enemy, as if clawing through rotten earth. It's a metaphor rather than a literal instruction! You're not meant to plunge your fingers through your enemy's skull!
The first volume of the Nine Yin Manual clearly explained that it was founded on the Taoist concepts of harmony, selflessness and union with nature, and that the kung fu within was supposed to expel evil and nourish life.
Some brutal moves were recorded within its pages because, in order to learn the countermeasures, it was important to first gain a thorough knowledge of their dark intricacies. Of course, as Cyclone Mei had never seen the first volume, she did not realise she had spent her life learning something twisted and mistaken.
"Let's try some internal kung fu exercises." Zhou Botong knew this would take Guo Jing's mind off Cyclone Mei, for now. He quoted the opening lines of the Manual and got the young man to repeat after him until he had learned them by heart. Once Guo Jing had a firm grasp on the first volume, it would give him a foundation that would make the kung fu from the second volume a natural progression. He would not associate anything with Cyclone Mei again.
Guo Jing had little understanding of the meaning of the passage he had just committed to memory. Each sentence was so complex and each character imbued with so much resonance. In his incomprehension, he told Zhou Botong how Count Seven Hong had instructed him to learn the theories behind the Dragon-Subduing Palm by heart and not worry about their meanings or applications yet – as they were also too complicated for his understanding.
This method was perfect for Zhou Botong's purposes. So, over the next few days, he read the Manual to Guo Jing, line by line. The young man parroted the words over and over again, several dozen times, until they were engraved on his mind. Soon, Guo Jing could recite a good portion of the martial tract, though he could fathom only a fraction of it.
They reached the final part of the Manual, a section of incomprehensible incantation-like sounds, over a thousand characters long. Zhou Botong had read it hundreds of times, but could not make head nor tail of it. Still, he was going to make Guo Jing learn the gibberish by heart. Perhaps, by then, he would have worked out how to explain the passage to the young man.
Zhou Botong patiently fed his little brother the text in bite-sized chunks. If he pushed a few extra characters, the young man would forget what he had already learned. Guo Jing swallowed it whole, without comment, but even his docile mind began to wonder at its meaning.
"The intent of the heavens shall not yet be revealed," Zhou Botong replied cryptically. "You just need to learn it."
Memorising this cluster of meaningless characters was a hundred times harder than getting to grips with any of the moves or martial theories. But Guo Jing always met challenges head on. Everything he had learned, he had learned through hard graft, without questioning its meaning or purpose. It was the only way he knew. Though there was no semantic anchor to latch on to, he read the passage out loud – mahaparas gatekras hahoramanpayas – a thousand times, until the sounds became an inseparable part of him.
Once Guo Jing had learned the whole Manual by heart, Zhou Botong guided him through the cultivation of internal strength, according to the methods described in the first volume. As the Hoary Urchin predicted, nothing reminded Guo Jing of Cyclone Mei's Nine Yin Manual again.
To Guo Jing, this new training was in the same vein as what he had been taught by Ma Yu, only more complex and harder to grasp. Somehow, it made sense to him. After all, Zhou Botong was Ma Yu's martial uncle, so naturally his martial knowledge would be more advanced. Also, in the back of his mind, he remembered Cyclone Mei's questions about Taoist neigong secrets as she rode on his shoulders while they fought together at the Prince of Zhao's residence. Because of her ignorance of all matters Taoist, there was nothing to link what Zhou Botong was making him recite with the Nine Yin Manual as he had seen it in action.
Guo Jing did notice a twinkle in his sworn brother's eye during the lessons, but he dismissed it as the Hoary Urchin being his mischievous self. Little did he know he was the victim of an elaborate prank.
When Guo Jing had finished his morning's training, he opened the tiffin and found a mantou bun lightly marked with a gourd. He grabbed it and headed into the woods.
Guo Jing, the Venom of the West has asked Papa for my hand, on behalf of his nephew. Papa gave his con— The note broke off. It had been scrunched up hastily into the wax pellet.
It was clear to Guo Jing that the incomplete word was "consent". He showed the message to Zhou Botong, once the servant was gone, but his brother was not remotely interested.
"It's no business of ours if the Heretic decides to marry her off, or to whom."
"But she only wants to be with me! She must be devastated."
"Once you are in thrall to a woman, you are barred from a whole world of wonderful martial discoveries." For once, Zhou Botong hesitated over his next words. "I . . . I've always regretted it. My good brother, trust me, it's far better to stay away."
Guo Jing was exasperated. His sworn brother would not offer any help. He just kept droning on. "If I still had my virginity, I'd have learned some really amazing kung fu from my martial brother. The Heretic wouldn't have been able to hold me on this rotten island.
"Look at yourself now, the thought of that girl has driven you to distraction. You won't achieve anything with your practice today. If you really end up marrying the Heretic's daughter . . ." He sighed dramatically.
"Pity. What a pity! Back then, I just . . . There's no point talking about it. Just believe me, if a woman gets her claws into you, you won't get far with your kung fu. And, if that's not bad enough, you'll also end up double-crossing your friends . . .
"And offending my brother. They wouldn't kill me. They wanted to give her to me. Of course, I couldn't take her. But, having refused her, I couldn't get her out of my mind . . . I wonder how she's . . .
"Trust me. Don't look at a woman's face. And don't ever touch a woman's body. Never teach them about acupressure points. Never let them touch yours. It's a trap . . .
"Never ever take a wife. Never, never, never . . ."
Guo Jing was fed up with Zhou Botong's rambling. "Whether or not we get married, that's another matter. But you have to help me rescue her first!"
"The Venom of the West is a nasty piece of work. I suspect his nephew is cut from the same cloth. The Heretic's daughter is pretty, but I bet she's like her old man. The Venom's nephew is going to have a tough time if he marries her. And he'll never be able to practise any kung fu that requires a pure body. It'll kill two birds with one stone. He'll end up with the worst of both worlds!" Zhou Botong said with relish.
Groaning with frustration, Guo Jing stalked into the woods.
I will find her, he promised himself. I don't care if I die along the way, I will find her.
A screech echoed in the trees. Two white dots swooped from the sky. The condors! Guo Jing waved at them.
When they landed, he noticed a bamboo tube was tied to one of the condors' talons.
Untying it quickly, he opened the container to find another note from Lotus, written in haste.
The Venom of the West would soon arrive with his nephew, and her papa was keeping a close eye on her, forbidding her to cook for Guo Jing or to leave her quarters. If she could not find a way out of this predicament, she would take her life to stay true to her love.
Please do not come looking for me, she entreated in the end, there are many dangers and traps scattered all over Peach Blossom Island.
Guo Jing stared at the note, then, using his golden dagger, he carved live together, die together onto the bamboo tube. Once he had secured his message to the condor again, the magnificent creatures unfurled their wings and took flight, circling over him several times before flying north.
He sat down to practise his internal energy. Now that he had written back to Lotus with his decision to live and die by their love, the anxiety and frustration he had felt earlier eased. After a while, he sought out Zhou Botong for his daily lesson. He spent the next few days consolidating the words he had memorised, and listening to Zhou Botong's explanations. His brother kept insisting it was not time to put the words into practice yet – lest he arouse Guo Jing's suspicion.
The young man docilely accepted the instructions. For anyone else studying the martial arts, it would have been next to impossible to learn the method of training without applying it in practice, but Guo Jing had always been an honest soul. Even when he was learning from the Six Freaks of the South, he had followed what he was told to the letter, without ever questioning his teachers' decisions. He was now showing the same obedience to Zhou Botong, reciting the text he was taught, over and over again, hundreds of times, including that passage of nonsense, with its mahaparas, gatekras and hahoramanpayas. Before long, Guo Jing could repeat it without making a single mistake. Zhou Botong had to admit that he could not have learned it. He was impressed by the boy's dogged determination.
Night fell. The sky was exceptionally clear. The sea glowed brilliantly in the moonlight. Guo Jing had just finished sparring with Zhou Botong and they were now resting on the ground, chatting about nothing in particular.
He had not realised how much his kung fu had improved over the past days, but Zhou Botong was keeping a close eye on it. The Hoary Urchin guessed that he would not be able to beat his little brother once the younger man had absorbed all the kung fu from the Manual. Even Apothecary Huang and Count Seven Hong would probably struggle to overcome him.
Without warning, a swishing sound rose from the undergrowth and the shrubs started to twitch. Zhou Botong leapt up and screamed, "Snakes!"
Now, the noise grew into waves of hissing. Zhou Botong ran into the cave in fear, his wits scattered to the four winds. The sight of so many snakes drained the blood from his face.
"Stay inside, I'll take a look," Guo Jing said, and he started to block the mouth of the cave with large rocks.
"Be careful! Come back quickly!" Zhou Botong had composed himself a little, but a tremor was evident in his voice. "Actually, what's there to see? How come there are so many snakes? I haven't seen a single one in fifteen years. The Heretic may think he's omnipotent, but, in truth, he can't even keep these horrid things from infesting his little island. Are we going to find turtles, terrapins, adders and scorpions crawling all over the place next? Something deeply rotten is afoot."