The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 34 – Mediating disputes, Part 18

“What did he do?” Zhou Botong wondered.

“Well, there was a man who injured your son and he refused to help him,” Yang Guo answered.

For all these long years Zhou Botong had never known that Yinggu bore him a son. “My … my son?” he stammered.

“I don’t know the details,” answered Yang Guo, “I heard this from Reverend Yideng.” He immediately narrated what he heard at the Black Dragon Marsh.

Zhou Botong was spellbound. He stood silently, recalling how Yinggu had suffered for many-many years. A feeling of love, compassion and guilt slowly crept into his heart.

Yang Guo noticed this old man’s behavior; he said in his heart, “This Senior is a compassionate man. His character is almost the same as mine. For a man like this, how could I withhold the seventeen stances of ‘An Ren Xiao Hun Zhang’?” Having had this thought he then said, “Senior Zhou, let me show you the entire ‘An Ren Xiao Hun Zhang’. I beg you to give me some pointers.” And then he demonstrated all the stances of ‘An Ren Xiao Hun Zhang’ except the ‘Face Without Feeling’, because he was wearing a mask.

As a highly skilled martial artist – plus a profound knowledge of the “Nine Yin Manual”, Zhou Botong was immediately able to understand the stances. The only two he had some difficulty with were “Dead Man Walking” and “Entering a Dead End”. Yang Guo explained several times, but he still could not grasp the essence of the stances. “Senior Zhou,” Yang Guo finally said, “I was separated from my wife fifteen years ago. Day and night I kept thinking about her. In agony I created these two stances. Senior is a carefree man; you have never known suffering in your life. No wonder you cannot grasp the essence of the stances.”

“Ah! How did you get separated from your wife?” the old man was surprised. “She was beautiful and kind hearted. No wonder you cannot forget her.”

Yang Guo did not want to mention Guo Fu, so he told him how his wife was gravely injured, and was taken by the ‘Divine Nun of the South Sea’ as her disciple, and how he had to wait for sixteen years before they could see each other again. He also mentioned how he prayed everyday for his wife’s safety. Finally he said, “I just want to see her one more time. Afterward, I don’t care if I will have to die. I will die a satisfied man.”

Listening to Yang Guo, Guo Xiang was saddened and tears flowed down her cheeks. “Oh God, let them see each other again,” she said with a trembling voice.

Since his separation from his wife, this was the first time somebody had prayed for him earnestly. He was so touched and vowed not to forget her kindness. He heaved a sigh and bowed to Zhou Botong. “Senior Zhou, I bid you farewell.” He took Guo Xiang’s hand and left.

After only a few steps Guo Xiang looked back and said, “Senior Zhou, did you see that? Big Brother is thinking about his wife all the time. Yinggu is the same. She is thinking about you. Do you have the heart not to see her?”

Zhou Botong was startled and his countenance paled.

“Little Sister, let it go,” Yang Guo whispered. “Everybody has their own thoughts; we have no right to tell him what to do.” Slowly they left the “Hundred Flower Valley”. Their hearts were heavy.

“Big Brother,” Guo Xiang asked, “Are you going to be sad if I ask you about your wife?”

“No,” he answered, “We are going to see each other in a few months.”

“How did you meet her?” asked Guo Xiang.

Yang Guo then told her his life story. How as an orphan he was bullied by the Quanzhen priests, how he ran away to the Ancient Tomb and met Xiao Longnü, and how after several years of living together they fell in love with each other, and finally how they got separated at the ‘Broken Heart Cliff’.

Guo Xiang was listening with a sad heart. After Yang Guo finished his story, she said earnestly, “I pray to Heaven that you will meet her safely.”

“Thank you, thank you very much!” Yang Guo said. “I will not forget your prayer. I will let my wife know about your loving kindness toward us.”

“Every year, right on my birthday, Mother will pray to Heaven for our safety,” Guo Xiang continued. “That day she always tells me to make three wishes. Oftentimes I could not figure out what to wish even after thinking about it for half a day. But this year, I already know what to wish. I will wish that Big Brother will meet your lovely wife much earlier.”

“And the other two wishes?” asked Yang Guo.

Guo Xiang laughed, “That’s a secret. I cannot tell you.”

A moment later they heard somebody calling behind them, “Brother Yang, wait! Brother Yang, wait for me!” It was Zhou Botong.