Chapter 1: Shocking Events in Snowstorm (2)

Legend of Condor Heroes by Jin Yong

Chapter 1: Shocking Events in Snowstorm

2

At the second hour that night, Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin had gone into the forest seven li west of the village, hoping to catch a wild boar or a muntjac. But after waiting for more than two hours, it seemed increasingly unlikely that they would catch anything.

Just as they were about to lose patience, a loud sound of wood clashing against metal echoed through the forest from behind the tree line.

Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin looked at each other, both wondering, “What’s going on now?”

At this moment, from afar, came several men shouting:

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Stop right now!”

Then a shadow jumped into the forest and ran towards them. The moonlight shone on a man’s robe. Now that he was under the moonlight, Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin could finally see the man. The two of them were shocked. Because this man was the crippled wine shop owner in the village, Qu San.

Qu San stuck his left crutch into the ground. Knowing that he would have a hard time outrunning the people following him, he flew straight into the air and hid behind a nearby tree. This was a display of an incredible level of lightness kung fu.

Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin looked at each other again with astonishment. They both thought, “We didn’t know Qu San’s martial art was this great, and we’ve lived here for three whole years!”

The two of them remained hidden in the bushes, not daring to move or come out.

Just then the footsteps of Qu San’s pursuers drew closer, there were three people who had reached the edge of the forest and then stopped. They whispered something to each other and began to walk slowly into the forest. The three men were dressed in military attire, and each of them carried a saber in their hands. Under the moonlight, the sabres emitted a faint green glow.

One of them shouted, “Damned cripple! We can see you. Come out and surrender quickly!”

Qu San remained still behind the tree. The three men began to swing their weapons like machetes, swinging and slashing at anything that got in their way. Very slowly, the three men got closer and closer.

Suddenly, a soft thud was heard. Qu San thrust his right crutch out from behind the tree, hitting one of the men right in the chest. The man let out a muffled groan before being thrown back and falling to the ground.

Startled, the other two men immediately swung their sabers towards the tree where Qu San was hiding.

Qu San pushed his right crutch and jumped a few feet to the left, avoiding the sabres. His left crutch was aimed straight at one of the men's face. The man's martial art was not bad either, he tried to block the crutch with his saber.

Qu San did not wait for the two men before withdrawing his crutch to support him again. His right crutch came swinging at the other man’s waist. He used his crutches with great speed and elegance, even though he always had to use one of them to support himself, leaving only one to fight with at all times, he was not inferior to the three men at all.

Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin noticed that he was carrying a huge bundle on his back, seemingly very cumbersome. After some more fighting, one of the sabers came down and hit the bundle.

Bang!

The bundle ripped and its contents spilled onto the forest floor. Qu San took advantage of this temporary distraction and hit the man’s head with his crutch. The man fell onto the ground without even a whimper. The only man left now was scared to death, he turned and started running.

Qu San took out something from his chest and raised his arm very quickly. A ball-like object flew through the air under the moonlight, followed by a soft thud as it hit the back of the man’s head. The man let out a terrible scream and dropped his saber as his arms began to swing wildly uncontrollably. He fell forward as if in slow motion, and landed in a folded state on the ground. After a few twitches, he stopped moving.

Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin had just witnessed Qu San killing three people in succession while displaying a level of martial art they had never seen before. Their hearts were both pounding, afraid to breathe too loudly, as they both thought the same thing, “He just killed government officials, that’s a big crime. We won’t stand a chance if he finds us here and wants to kill us too, to keep us quiet.”

Qu San turned around and slowly spoke, “Brother Guo, Brother Yang, you can come out now!”

Once Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin recovered from the shock, they had no choice but to step out of the bushes, although both of them were holding their pitchforks rather tightly until their knuckles turned white.

Yang Tiexin glanced at Guo Xiaotian and with the pitchfork in his hand, he took two steps further.

“Brother Yang,” Qu San said with a smiled, “Your Yang Family Spear Technique is famous throughtout our country, but in the absence of a spear, a pitchfork will do. However, your sworn brother uses a pair of short halberds and the pitchfork is not up to his skill, so you step in front of him. Such righteousness, such friendship is rare!”

Yang Tiexin, hearing that Qu San had spelled out exactly what was on his mind, suddenly felt very exposed and could not decide what to do.

“Brother Guo,” Qu San continued, “Let’s say that you have your double halberd with you. Do you think that the two of you joining forces can defeat me?”

Guo Xiaotian shook his head, “No, we can’t. We must be blind, living with you here for so many years and not even realizing that you have mastered martial art, let alone being a master.”

Qu San shook his head and sighed, “I can’t even use my legs, how can I be considered a master?” As if his spirits were fading, he continued, “Back then, before I was injured, I would have had no trouble defeating those armed guards. Aiya! I’m useless now! Useless!”

Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin glanced at each other, unsure of how to respond. Qu San continued, “Will you help this crippled old man and bury these three bodies?”

They glanced at each other again. Yang Tiexin answered, “Alright!”

The two men dug a large hole with their pitchforks as hard as they could and threw the three corpses into it. When they moved the last corpse, Yang Tiexin saw that part of the round black object was still sticking out from behind the dead man’s head. He gave it a good tug with his right arm and pulled it out. It turned out to be an Eight Trigrams disk made of steel. He wiped the blood on the object onto the dead man’s cloth and returned it to Qu San.

Qu San took the Eight Trigrams disk and said, “My sincerest gratitude.”

He put the Eight Trigrams disk back inside his robe. He then spread his outer robe on the ground and started to put the objects that were scattered on the ground back into his robe.

Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin finished shovelling soil into the makeshift grave, turning around to look at Qu San’s collection, they saw three scrolls of painting on the floor as well as many other bright and shiny metal trinkets.

Qu San took out a golden kettle and a golden cup. After putting everything else back in the bundle, he handed those two things to Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin, saying, “These things are stolen by me from the Imperial Palace in Lin’an. The Emperor has done enough harm to the peasants, taking back a little bit of what he stole from the peasants isn’t really a crime. Consider these two things a gift from me.”

The two of them could not believe that he was actually bold enough to break into the Imperial Palace and steal the Imperial Palace’s treasures. None of them dared to accept his offer.

Qu San said in a stern voice, “Are you afraid to accept them? Or do you not want them?”

Guo Xiaotian replied, “We did nothing to deserve such gifts and that is why we cannot accept your gifts. As for what happened tonight, you do not have to worry about anything, Brother Qu, none of us will let this secret get out.”

“Hmph!” Qu San scoffed, “Why should I worry about you two leaking this secret? I know all about the two you and your backgrounds, or else how could I let you leave alive? Brother Guo, you are the descendent of Guo Sheng, one of the Heroes of the Water Margins of Mount Liang. You are skilled in using the halberd, as taught to you accordance to your family customs, except that your halberd is short instead of long, and has two blades instead of one. Brother Yang, your ancestor is Yang Zaixing, one of the commanders who served under the beloved General Yue Fei. You two are the descendants of two of the most beloved and respected patriots in the country. When the Jin army conquered the North, both of you began wandering in the martial world of the South, and became brothers-in-arms. Together you moved to Niu Family Village together. Am I right so far?”

The two men saw that Qu San knew their past inside out, became even more shocked. All they could do was nod.

Qu San continued, “Guo Sheng and Yang Zaixin were both rebels before they sided with the government to fight for the Great Song Empire. So both of them had stolen from the thief that was the government. So tell me, are you two going to accept my gifts?”

Yang Tiexin thought to himself, “If I refuse, then he will definitely be offended.” So he took the gifts from Qu San’s hands and said, “We are very grateful for this. Thank you.”

Qu San was pleased by this, he picked up the bundle and put it back onto his back, turning around he said, “It’s time to go home.”

The three of them walked side by side out of the forest.

“I caught a couple of prize pieces tonight,” Qu San said, “I got two paintings by Emperor Hui Zong, and a sheet of his writing that showcases his calligraphy as well. This person was no emperor, but his Red Green Plume and Thin Gold Form were indeed very extraordinary.”

The other two men had no idea what Red Green Plume or Thin Gold Form were, so all they did was nod in agreement.

After walking for a while, Yang Tiexin spoke up, “This afternoon you said that half of our Great Song’s land is lost in the hands of Emperor Hui Zong. So what’s so good about his paintings or writings? Why did Brother Qu go through such troubles and take such a much risk to go into the Imperial Palace to steal them?”

Qu San smiled, “This is something I don’t think you would understand.”

Guo Xiaotian also spoke up, “If Emperor Hui Zong could be so good at painting and writing, he must be very clever. It’s a pity that he didn’t concentrate on being a good ruler. When I was young, my father said that a person, no matter what he does, must concentrate on doing one thing. If he tries to learn a little here, do something there, in the end he won’t accomplish anything.”

“For a normal person, this is true.” Qu San answered, “But in this world there is someone who is a genius at everything. From language to martial arts, including writing, painting, and music, from mathematics to military tactics, even medicine, astrology, and the Five Elements. There is nothing that he doesn’t understand, nothing he doesn’t master. It’s just that you will never meet him.”

He looked up at the waning moon, and let out a long sigh.

Under the moonlight, Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin suddenly realized that there were tears on Qu San’s face.

When the two men arrived home, they buried the two golden objects deep within their backyard, and did not mention the unique incident that night to their wives.

After that night, Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin acted as if nothing had happened, staying in their fields and whatever they caught. When they had free time, they practiced their martial arts. Even when they were alone, neither of them ever brought up what happened that night.

The two men still visited the small wine shop occasionally to buy a few jugs of wine. Qu San still served the wine along with some peas, peanuts, and other snacks to accompany the wine. After that, he would always go and sit by the door and enter his own world, lost in his thoughts. It was as if that night had never happened.

The only difference was that when Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin looked at Qu San, their eyes were filled with respect.

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