The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 28

The wedding.

Yang Guo wrapped his right empty sleeve around Xiao Longnü’s waist to support her body and gently said: “Gu Gu, let’s go!” Xiao Longnü gave him a sweet smile, softly saying: “This time I can die by your side. In my heart… in my heart I’m very happy.” Then something came to her mind so she said: “Guo Da Xia [great hero Guo]’s daughter cut off your arm. She didn’t mean you well. Later on who will take good care of you?” Her heart sank when she thought about this so she softly added: “You’ll be lonely by yourself, you…won’t have anyone to keep you company..”

Yang Guo saw her life about to extinguish, he was overwhelmed by grief. Suddenly he remembered something: “That day we were here at Mount Zhongnan, she asked me if I was willing to make her my wife. At that time I was so shocked I couldn’t answer and that led to many miserable and catastrophic events afterwards. We don’t have much time left; I have to let her know my heartfelt feelings.” So he said it out loud: “What do I care if you are my master? What do I care about a reputation? We will just do as we please and d.a.m.n people if they can’t take it! In life or in death, neither of us will ever be sad again, nor will we be alone and lonely. From now on, you are not my master, you are not my Gu Gu [auntie], you are my wife!”

Xiao Longnü’s heart was filled with joy. She gazed at his face and softly said: “Are you really speaking from your heart? Or are you just saying sweet words to make me happy?”

Yang Guo replied: “Of course this is what I feel in my heart. My arm got chopped off and you are feeling sorrier for me than I am for myself; when you come across any hards.h.i.+p, I feel just the same.”

Xiao Longnü softly said: “That’s right. In this world, except you and me caring for each other, there’s no one else.”

The several hundred Taoists at Chongyang Palace were students of spiritual ways who let go their previous lives to become priests. Suddenly hearing the two people speaking tender words of love and care, they found themselves in a difficult situation – the old priests were quite embarra.s.sed while the young ones unavoidably felt their worldly desires stirred up. They looked at each other in dismay and some couldn’t help blus.h.i.+ng. The Sage of Tranquility Sun Bu’Er shouted: “You two get out of here quickly. Chongyang Palace is a holy place, you shouldn’t be here talking improperly like this!”

Yang Guo turned a deaf ear and only gazed into Xiao Longnü’s eyes. Then he said: “In those years the late master Chongyang and our Gu Mu sect’s [the ancient tomb sect] Ancestor Grandma should have been married. We don’t know what strange grudges broke them apart in the end. Today before him we’ll bow to heaven and earth and become man and wife, letting our Ancestor Grandma vent her anger.” He originally didn’t think very highly of w.a.n.g Chongyang. But then he started learning from the work that w.a.n.g Chongyang left engraved at Gu Mu [the ancient tomb], and the more he practiced, the more he admired him. He even secretly felt like he was w.a.n.g Chongyang’s successor in a way. Xiao Longnü let out a sigh and quietly said: “Guo’er, you are very good to me.”

During those years w.a.n.g Chongyang and Lin Chaoying were deeply in love. Quanzhen’s Five Masters all knew about it. They respected their master for cutting all his emotional ties with a proverbial sword like a true hero; but when they thought about how the supreme martial arts master Lin Chaoying, whose beauty was unrivalled, locked herself up inside Gu Mu for the rest of her life, they all sighed. When Yang Guo brought up this matter, the young Taoists didn’t understand while the old masters trembled in their hearts.

Sun Bu’Er shouted: “Our late master had great wisdom. He let go of the secular world and started our sect, cutting himself off from all worldly pains. How could an infant like you, who was born after his time, pry into his business? If you have the gall to be this outrageous and talk rubbish again, don’t blame my heartless sword!” That day at the Da Sheng Guan heroes’ banquet, Yang Guo rejected Sun Bu’Er’s offered sword, embarra.s.sing her at the scene. Even though she was a Taoist priestess, her mind was far less generous than Qiu Chuji, w.a.n.g Chuyi and others. She was the revered elder of the Quanzhen sect and was insulted by a youngster of her disciples’ generation; she naturally took it to heart. Also being a woman living and practicing Taoism with a group of male Taoists, she became even stricter. As she heard Yang Guo’s declaration, determining to bow to heaven and earth [get married] before the sacred portrait of her sect’s founding master, her rising anger became difficult to suppress. Now seeing the Yang-Long couple totally ignoring her words, her sword immediately came out of its sheath with a ‘shua’ sound.

Yang Guo gave her a cold look and thought: “You, old priestess, by yourself, are surely not my match. But if I fought with you, the rest of the Quanzhen sect couldn’t just stand by. But I have to marry Gu Gu immediately. If we don’t do it right now and leave the Chongyang Palace and if by chance her injuries don’t heal, won’t I be giving her grief at her end? You scolded me for ‘being outrageous.’ Humph, I, Yang Guo, will show you outrageous. I already said we would be married before the portrait of Founding Master Chongyang and I will do as I said.” He scanned the area and saw only half of the Taoists holding a sword in their hands. He then said: “Sun Dao Zhang [Taoist Elder Sun], you are set on forcing us to leave, is that it?”

Sun Bu’Er sternly said: “Leave now! From now on, the ties between the Quanzhen sect and Gu Mu sect are completely severed. There will be no more connection between us for all eternity and it is best we not meet again!”

Yang Guo let out a deep sigh and shook his head. Then he turned around, walking two steps towards the small trail that led to Gu Mu and slowly putting the sword back onto his back. His right sleeve flared out while he used his left arm to support Xiao Longnü. He secretly channeled air into his abdomen. Suddenly he lifted his head towards the sky and gave out a roar so loud that it shook the tree branches in the woods. Hearing this ear-shattering roar, the Taoists were startled.

And even before he finished his roar, he let go of Xiao Longnü and leapt backwards. In a flash, his left hand sealed both ‘ “Returning Orthodox” (Hui Zong) and “Sustaining Waterway” (Zhi Gou) points on Sun Bu’Er’s right wrist. As Xiao Longnü’s body, now without support, was about to collapse, Yang Guo quickly dragged Sun Bu’Er along with him to prop Xiao Longnü’s body back up. His jumping back and forth was lightning fast, like the movement of a fleeing rabbit. Before any of the Taoists had a chance to blink their eyes, Sun Bu’Er had already fallen into Yang Guo’s clutches and nothing could be done about it. Qiu Chuji and Sun Bu’Er had long fought powerful enemies. In the beginning, they were guarding themselves against Yang Guo’s swift attack but then they saw him put away his weapon and head out towards the small trail to the outside, with his only arm supporting Xiao Longnü. Naturally, they concluded that he’d decided to give up. They hadn’t expected that he would use his roar to distract the enemy and that his actions — using his left hand to support Xiao Longnü instead of his s.h.i.+rt sleeve and putting away the sword — were actually a strategy designed to fool them so he could capture Sun Bu’Er. Numerous Taoists shouted and raised their swords. But as Sun Bu’Er was held captive, n.o.body dared to move forward to attack.