The Return of the Condor Heroes

This bald man was Sha Tongtian, the second man was his martial brother the Three Headed Serpent Hou Tonghai, the third man was the Thousand Hand Killer Peng Lianhu, the fourth was the Big Handprint Lama Ling Zi. More than 30 years ago, the Old Urchin Zhou Botong captured them and handed them to Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi who imprisoned them in Chongyang Palace, wanting them to repent before releasing them. But their evil characters were hard to change and they tried many ways and means to escape but were recaptured each time. On their third attempt, Hou Tonghai, Peng Lianhu and Ling Zi killed several of the Quanzhen disciples who were their wardens. The Quanzhen Taoists punished them by breaking their legs and blinding them. Since only Sha Tongtian had killed no one, he was not blinded. Then sixteen years ago the Mongolians overran Chongyang Palace and they managed to escape. However, since three of them were blind, they had to rely on Sha Tongtian to lead the way, but they were afraid that he would desert them, they had chained themselves up in this manner.

At that time Yang Guo only spent a short time at Chongyang Palace and was not in his master’s and fellow disciples’ good books. He had never been allowed to go near their cell; therefore he had never seen them and did not know their backgrounds.

When they escaped from Chongyang Palace the four of them were disabled so they could not fight the Quanzhen disciples. Although the Quanzhen’s base had been destroyed, their strength in Jianghu had not diminished. They came to Jiangnan and lived in a deserted village, passing sixteen years uneventfully. But one day they came out and saw Ke Zhen’E passing along on a small road. Sha Tongtian was afraid he had come for them so they went to confront him. Ke Zhen’E’s skills were no match for the four people and he was subdued almost immediately. After interrogating him, they found he was attending to some other matters. Although the four of them had no feud with him, they were afraid he would leak out their secret so they wanted to kill him.

Ke Zhen’E swore that he would make a trip to Jiaxing to attend to a matter then he would return to seek death, promising that if they let him off for the time being he would obtain the “Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills” from Peach Blossom Island to return the favour. After their legs were broken, they would ache and hurt whenever it rained. When they heard he would bring them such an effective treatment, they made him swear an oath not to reveal their whereabouts and not to get help to fight them and finally to meet at the Iron Spear Temple.

When Sha Tongtian finished his story, he said, “Hero Yang, when your father was still alive we were guests in his palace. We never did anything against him until he passed away. We hope that you consider our good ties with him and let us off.” Many years ago these four people were outstanding people in Jianghu; even if they were threatened by swords and axes they would never be willing to show any weakness. After being disabled and suffering many years of hardship, they discarded their pride and begged Yang Guo for mercy.

Yang Guo snorted and did not bother with them. Facing Ke Zhen’E he said, “So you went to see Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang? What was it about?”

Ke Zhen’E faced the sky and laughed, “Yang Guo ah Yang Guo, you’re really ignorant.”

Yang Guo angrily said, “In what way?”

Ke Zhen’E said, “At this stage, I already ignore my old life; even when I was in my prime I have never been intimidated by anyone. No matter how good your martial arts are, you can only frighten people who’re afraid of death. The Jiangnan Seven Freaks never submit under interrogation.”

Yang Guo saw that his manner was imposing and gallant and he respected him. He said, “Elder Ke, I’m at fault, pardon me. I was offended because you insulted my father. Elder Ke’s name is well-known throughout the world; I have admired you since young and do not dare offend you.”

Ke Zhen’E said, “This is more like it. I heard your character is good and you contributed greatly to Xiangyang, so I regard you as an outstanding person. If you were like your father, by just talking to me you would have insulted me.”

Yang Guo’s anger erupted again and he shouted, “What on Earth had my father done? Tell me clearly.” Among all the people Yang Guo knew, there were many who knew about his father but no one wanted to tell him the whole story in order not to offend him. Even if he asked, they just picked some unrelated details and told him those.

Ke Zhen’E bore a deep grudge against his father and he also did not have any regard for his own life, so he did not care if Yang Guo was offended or not. He told Yang Guo the whole story of Guo Jing and Yang Kang and mentioned how Yang Kang collaborated with Ouyang Feng to kill five of the Jiangnan Seven Freaks. He finally told how he died after striking Huang Rong here in this very temple. Then he said, “These people witnessed everything that happened that night. Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, tell us, have I spoken the truth?” f𝓇𝘦𝒆𝘄𝑒𝗯𝑛𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄𝘰𝓶

The six people had smashed the statue and shouted loudly, frightening the crows on the roof of the temple. They circled in the air and cawed continuously.

Sha Tongtian sighed, “That night there were so many crows as well… My hand was scratched by the elder Master Yang, if not for Brother Peng’s quick reaction of cutting off my arm, how could I still be alive today?” Peng Lianhu said, “Old man Ke is more or less correct, but Hero Yang’s father treated us with courtesy and he was really… really outstanding and talented.”

(Some background information: In ‘The Legend of the Eagle Shooting Heroes’, Yang Kang struck the spot on Huang Rong’s Soft Armour which had Ouyang Feng’s poison on it. As a result he eventually died from the poison; when he scratched Sha Tongtian the poison was spread to him, so his arm had to be amputated.)

Yang Guo held his head with both hands in grief and indignation – he never expected his father to be such an evil traitor. No matter how great he had become, it was hard to erase his father’s bad name. The six people sat there silently while the crows continued cawing.

After a long time, Ke Zhen’E said, “Master Yang, you have contributed greatly at Xiangyang; no matter how many wrongdoings your father committed, you have already made up for him. Even in the Underworld he would be proud of you.”

Yang Guo thought back to his relationship with the Guo couple and remembered how Huang Rong did not trust him. Many of the misunderstandings in the past resulted from this. But without his father how would he be here? Still, many of his problems originated from his father, so he gave a long sigh and asked Ke Zhen’E, “Elder Ke, how are Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang?”

Ke Zhen’E said, “They heard about how you burned the supplies at Nanyang and how you annihilated the Mongolian vanguard, so they were delighted. They asked every detail about you and also asked if you had news of Xiao Longnü. They really miss you a lot, but it’s a pity I don’t know much myself.”

Yang Guo said, “I’ve not seen my two sworn sisters for sixteen years.” Suddenly he turned around and told Sha Tongtian, “Elder Ke has promised to give his life to you, he is a man of honour and never goes back on his word. Now you can act. If you gang up on him you can win by numbers and kill him. But if you do that I will kill you dogs to avenge him.”

They sat wordlessly for a while. Then Peng Lianhu said, “The four of us are really foolish and we offended old Hero Ke; we beg you two great men to forgive us.”

Yang Guo said, “Then remember that now it is you who must keep your word and do not dare kill Elder Ke.”

Peng Lianhu said, “Yes, yes. Old Hero Ke is a man of honor, we really admire him.”