Return of Condor Heroes, page 134
Zhou Botong chuckled, saying: “Even if that bald thief gives us food to eat, being trapped in this cave for several years is not fun.”
Xiao Longnu replied: “He’ll never give us food.” She let out a sigh. “If it were Guo’Er with me in this cave, I wouldn’t mind spending a lifetime here.”
“What makes you place Yang Guo above me?” Zhou Botong said indignantly. “Is he also stronger than me? You don’t think I’m good company?”
Although his words made no sense, Xiao Longnu did not mind it. She only showed a cold smile and said: “Yang Guo knows the Quanzhen swordplay. Together, we can easily defeat this Buddhist priest and send him running away into the wilderness.”
Zhou Botong snorted: “Humph, the Quanzhen swordplay is not that difficult to understand. Even I can use it. Will Yang Guo be able to beat me?”
“When we combine our swords together in a technique called *Yunu Suxin [2] swordplay [‘Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden’], it is important that his heart is filled with love for me and my heart is filled with love for him so we become united and are able to subdue the enemy.”
When Zhou Botong heard her speak about the love between a man and a woman, he was filled with apprehension. He immediately waved his hand and said again and again: “Stop, stop - I don’t love you! You also can’t possibly love me. But I’m telling you it’s much better that there’s two of us in this cave. Years ago I was trapped in a cave in Tao Hua Island [3] and had no one to accompany me. I was forced to fight with myself the whole time. But this time, it’s entirely different because I have you. It’s going to be fun!”
With such happy thought, he could imagine being in that cave for a long time.
Xiao Longnu asked dubiously: “Fight with oneself? Is there such a method?”
Pleased, Zhou Botong immediately launched into a discussion of the “Fen Xin Er Yong Zuo You Hu” [4] [Mutual Hands Combat] method.
Xiao Longnu thought to herself: “If I could learn this method, then I could use the Quanzhen sword play with my left hand and the Yunu sword play with my right. With the two combined, I will be able to complete the Yunu Suxin sword play. But I’m afraid that I won’t be able to learn this kung fu in just one evening.
“This kung fu is difficult to learn,” she told him.
Zhou Botong replied: “If you say it’s difficult, then it will really be difficult. If you say it’s easy, then it will be easy. There are people who spend their entire lifetime learning yet never understand a thing; while there are people who only need a few days to understand it. You’ve heard about those two kids, Guo Jing and Huang Rong, right?”
Xiao Longnu nodded.
Zhou Botong continued: “Who do you think is more intelligent?”
Xiao Longnu answered: “Madame Guo is a thousand times cleverer. Guo’er told me once that there is no one in this generation who could surpass her intelligence and wisdom. Great Hero Guo is virtuous, but his level is actually ordinary.”
Zhou Botong laughed. “What do you mean “ordinary? Are you saying he’s stupid? Tell me; am I intelligent, or stupid?”
Xiao Longnu smiled and said: “I look at you and although you’re not young, you act silly. Sometimes, you say weird things and you act a little mad.”
Zhou Botong clapped his hands, saying: “Ah, you’re right. I once taught this Zuo You Hu method to Brother Guo Jing and it only took him a few days to learn it. Afterwards, he tried to teach the same lesson to his wife. You said that this child, Huang Rong is sharp and clever with a mind higher than that of a seventy-eight year old man, but she could not understand this kung fu. I thought that the little idiot Guo Jing probably did not teach her properly, so Lao Wan Tong decided to come and teach her himself. I repeated the left hand and right strokes with her, but she still didn’t understand how to combine the two together. It was then that I realized that some men may learn a method that other men would spend a lifetime learning, yet never understand. You see, intelligence is not the only measure of success.”
Xiao Longnu said: “Don’t tell me that when stupid people learn this kung fu, they can surpass even the smart ones. I can’t believe it.”
Zhou Botong grinned and said: “I look at you and see that your intelligence is more or less equal to that of young Huang Rong. Your wugong is not that far from hers either. Since you don’t believe, why not try to draw a square on the ground with your left index finger and a circle with your right at the same time?”
Xiao Longnu followed his instructions and extended both her index fingers to the ground, making downward strokes to create the figures. However, it turned out that the square looked like a circle and the circle looked like a square.
Zhou Botong laughingly said: “See? I told you it’s not easy.”
Smiling faintly, Xiao Longnu emptied her mind before extending her index fingers again. This time, she was able to draw a perfect square and a perfect circle.
In his astonishment, Zhou Botong could only stammer: “You...you...you...” A moment passed before he could speak: “You studied this before?”
“Ah, I haven’t,” Xiao Longnu replied. “Besides, didn’t you say this is difficult?”
Zhou Botong scratched the white hairs on his head and asked: “Then how did you know how to draw?”
Xiao Longnu said: “I don’t know. I didn’t think. I just held out my fingers and drew the figures.”
As she said this, she wrote the three characters “lao wan tong” with her left hand and the three characters “xiao long nu” with her right. The two hand strokes were so neatly written they looked like the ones found in books and the handwriting was also very elegant.
Delighted, Zhou Botong declared: “This shows that you learned this method even when you were still in your mother’s womb! This is so much better!”
Thereupon, he taught her how to attack with her left and defend with her right, strike with her right and block with her left. It was in Tao Hua Island that he first learned this strange kung fu that was unmatched under the heavens so when the old man spoke, she listened.
In truth, the essence of the Zuo You Hu technique was the four characters “Fin Xin Er Yong.” Often, people with high intelligence have complicated thoughts and they always rushed from one thought to another. *During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Zhi wrote the Qi Bu Shi, which depicted the turbulence of Wu Dynasty [5]. The poem could be likened to that of a person trying to learn the Zuo You Hu kung fu technique, only to have the turbulence that makes it impossible to learn occur inside the person’s mind.
Xiao Longnu’s kung fu was based on suppressing all emotions and desires. Even when she was only eight or nine years old she mastered her feelings, stopping them like one would water. After she fell madly in love with Yang Guo, however, the constant pain in her heart from thinking of him caused her kung fu to gradually decline. But now, this weird technique was introduced, unexpectedly helping her to recover.
After she resumed practicing the Gumu Pai nei gong, she was actually at the same level as Lin Chaoying when she was pining over her lost love. Their mind sets were the same for the most part so they had more or less the same capacity for understanding. As soon as Zhou Botong moved his finger, she understood his meaning quickly. But it was only because Zhou Botong, Guo Jing, and Xiao Longnu shared the same personality, innocence of heart, and that was why people like Huang Rong, Yang Guo, and Zhu Ziliu could not learn it.
Zhou Botong had yet to remove the poison from his body, but he continued to speak and draw with enthusiasm. Xiao Longnu, on the other hand, kept on nodding her head, but in her mind she was secretly trying to figure out how to use the Yunu sword play with her right hand and the Quanzhen sword play with her left. And so after several hours of playing this Chinese finger game with him, she finally grasped the idea.
“I understand completely,” she spoke.
To test it out, she moved her hands, making circular and thrusting motions with it.
Zhou Botong’s jaw dropped. He could only shout: “Strange! Strange!”
Guarding the cave outside, Fawang and Zhao Zhijing heard the two of them muttering and laughing with each other so they pressed closer but they could only hear snatches of their conversation, not enough to make the meaning clear.
Xiao Longnu raised her head at that moment and saw them eavesdropping. She straightened and said, “We’re getting out of here!”
Zhou Botong looked at her blankly, asking: “How exactly?”
“If we go out and catch that bald thief, we can force him to give you the antidote,” Xiao Longnu replied.
Zhou Botong stroked his beard, saying, “You think you can beat him?”
As they spoke, they suddenly heard a buzzing sound. A honeybee got stuck to the spider web and tried to struggle. Earlier when the big butterfly touched the spider’s silk, it immediately went into paralysis. This honeybee was small in size, but it seemed unaffected by the poison of the Cai Xue Spiders and even succeeded in splitting the web open.
The venomous spiders zealously eyed it from the side, but dared not go forward and tangle it within their silk. After a long while, the honeybee would weaken and only then would the venomous spiders attack it.
In the Ancient Tomb, Xiao Longnu kept swarms of Jade Bees as pets; being together with honeybees all year long there was no doubt her technique of controlling bees was very good. Moreover, she regarded all bees as friends. When this honeybee was in trouble, she could not stand it.
Suddenly changing her mind, she said: “Although these venomous spiders are evil-looking, my bees won’t necessarily be afraid of them.”
She then took out the jade bottle from her bosom, opened the lid, and used her right hand to fan the air around it, allowing the fragrant aroma to spread and penetrate through the thick spider web.
Surprised, Zhou Botong asked: “What are you doing?”
“Do you want to see an amusing trick?” Xiao Longnu asked.
Zhou Botong was delighted, saying: “Wonderful!” Then, asked: “What trick is that?”
Xiao Longnu only smiled, not responding as she continued moving her palm.
This was the season when the wild flowers in the valley were in full bloom. Wherever the sweet scent of honey could be smelled, the numerous wild bees gathering honey rushed in that direction. When the wild bees rushed to the cave, they got tangled in the spider web, and immediately began to struggle. Some died after being bitten by the venomous spiders while others were able to sting a few spiders. Although the Cai Xue Spiders were considered among the world’s most poisonous, too much bee venom in their bodies caused them to become stiff and gradually die.
Zhou Botong was ecstatic as he looked on, while outside the cave, Jinlun Fawang and Zhao Zhijing watched in helpless astonishment.
In the meantime, the Cai Xue Spiders still had the upper hand. Only three poisonous spiders were dead while about forty or so honeybees were killed. However, the wild bees continued to swarm. At first, there were only thirty of them, but fifty more came and got caught in the web. Afterwards, dozens more of them came, numbering up to a hundred so that the spider web covering the mouth of the cave soon began to fill up, and they were stinging the venomous spiders until they died.
Zhao Zhijing had experienced firsthand the honeybee’s sting. Seeing them now, with his own eyes, he realized the circumstance were grave. Hastily, he dived into the bushes to avoid them.
Fawang, on the other hand, knew that the Cai Xue Spiders were rare. If they are annihilated, there would be none left who could do their job. Therefore, he and the venomous spiders shared a common hatred of this swarm of wild bees. However, he did not know that it was Xiao Longnu who summoned them. All he thought about was how to force Zhou Botong and Xiao Longnu out of the cave and take their lives.
Young Xiao Longnu dipped a finger into the jade bottle and shot some honey towards Fawang, hitting him on both sides. He howled into the cave’s entrance as several wild bees made an about-face and headed towards him.
Fawang was panic-stricken as he realized the dire situation he was in. He dashed forward quickly. Although the wild bees were fast, his lightness kungfu was faster so within moments, he was already ten or so feet away from them.
His figure appeared like a wisp of black smoke, rushing further and further away. Failing to catch up, the wild bees merely scattered around.
Xiao Longnu stamped her foot again and again, saying repeatedly: “What a pity! What a pity!”
Zhou Botong asked: “What pity?”
“He ran away before I could snatch the antidote from him,” Xiao Longnu replied.
Indeed, she planned to summon the honeybees so they could cover Fawang’s flank, effectively trapping him within a sphere. However, these wild bees came from different nests and therefore came from different directions. Unlike the tamed Jade Bees of the Ancient Tomb, when she wanted them to pursue, sting the enemy, return, outflank him, or make a circle like in a battle formation, the wild bees were hopeless.
Zhou Botong, however, was full of admiration. He was the sort who liked games and when he played, his spirit usually improved. So when he clapped his hands with enthusiasm, he forgot all about the poison still in his body.
Xiao Longnu saw that due to the weight of the dead and dying bees the spider web had fallen; she leaped out and shouted, “Come!”
Zhou Botong followed, but he fell down as he was about to leap. “I … I can’t exert my strength!” he said. Suddenly his body shivered and his teeth chattered, like he was plunged into an ocean of ice. His lips turned white and his face turned blue, while his beard could not stop swaying.
Xiao Longnu was startled. “Zhou Botong! What happened?”
“Prick…prick me … with your needle again,” he said unevenly.
Xiao Lung Nu was surprised, “My needles are poisonous.”
“Then … the poison … is good,” the old man responded weakly.
Xiao Longnu remembered the battle between the spiders and wild bees; she thought, “Could it be that the bee’s venom is the antidote to the spiders’?” She quickly picked several needles from the ground and pricked them into his arm. “Good! More! More!” Zhou Botong called out.
Xiao Longnu pricked him some more while keeping her eyes on him. She saw the effect of the spider’s poison had faded from his face. After more than ten pricks, Zhou Botong stopped shivering. He sighed and said, “It is truly a poison against poison.” He tried to exert his energy but it turned out the poison had not been completely neutralized.
Suddenly he slapped his knee and said, “Miss Long, your bee poison is not strong enough and they are no longer fresh.”
“That case I am going to call some bees to sting you,” she said with a smile.
“Thank you, thank you …” the old man said, “Hurry up!”
Xiao Longnu then opened the jade bottle to lure a crowd of wild bees. Zhou Botong was grinning from ear to ear; he took off his clothes and let the bees stung him while he exerted his internal energy. First he sucked the bees’ venom to his [dan tian – pubic area, lower stomach] and then spread it out toward all his veins. In approximately the time needed to eat a bowl of rice the spider venom had been completely neutralized. The bee sting started to hurt him. “Enough! Enough!” he cried, putting on his clothes back, “More bee stings and I am dead.” Xiao Longnu smiled and drove the bees away.
She picked her [jin ling ruan so] white silk belt with golden bells from the ground and asked, “I am going to Mount Zhongnan. Are you coming?”
Zhou Botong shook his head, “I have an important matter to deal with. You go ahead.”
“Ah! I almost forget,” said Xiao Longnu. “You are going to Xiangyang to give Hero Guo a hand.” As soon as the word ‘Guo Da Xia’ came out of her mouth, Guo Fu came into her mind. From Guo Fu, she remembered Yang Guo. “Zhou Botong, if you see Yang Guo, please don’t let him know you have seen me,” she sadly said.
Zhou Botong mumbled some incoherent words, like he was thinking really hard. A moment later he looked up and asked, “What did you say?”
“Never mind,” she answered. “Farewell then.”
Zhou Botong was preoccupied; he simply nodded and waved his hand. Xiao Longnu turned around and started walking; but before reaching the plain she heard strange noises from Zhou Botong, similar to her own commands to the bees. She thought it was peculiar and quietly walked back. Hiding behind a tree she saw Zhou Botong – with one hand holding a jade bottle, flailing his hand around and howling noisily. She groped into her pocket and sure enough, her jade honey bottle was gone. The funny thing was, after calling for a while only a handful of wild bees were flying around his jade bottle.
Xiao Longnu could not help chuckling. Coming out from behind the tree she called, “Zhou Botong! Let me teach you!”
Zhou Botong blushed, he was caught red handed with the jade bottle in his hand. He kicked the ground and leaped several meters and quickly ran downhill.
Xiao Longnu laughed heartily. This old man was really strange and interesting. But as the echo of her laughter was fading away, she began to feel lonely and miserable; and her tears flowed without inhibition. She had fought Jinlun Fawang, both with her strength and wisdom and then had the Old Urchin’s company for the rest of the night. Now that the friend and foe were gone, she felt utter loneliness, like an orphan without anybody to care.
In another moment she remembered Zhao Zhijing and Zhen Zhibing. Even if she cut their bodies into ten thousand pieces, would her hatred be alleviated? She could easily kill those two, but she thought what good would that be? She stood and stared blankly under a big elm tree for a half a day; then said to herself, “Let me find them first.”
