The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 10 – The young hero, Part 1

The young hero.

Yelu Qi said, “Sister, watch carefully. I’ll hit her ‘Scholarly Arm’ (bei ru) pressure point and she will move her body and retreat, I’ll follow this by hitting her ‘Big Bone’ pressure point, she must raise her saber to attack. At this time the attack must be fast and then you’ll be able to snatch her saber.”

The girl in black said, “Huh, it won’t be that easy.”

Yelu Qi said, “It will be like that.” As he said this he used his right hand to attack her ‘Scholarly Arm’ pressure point. This palm was sent out in a crisscross, blocking all her paths to the front, back and right, leaving only a space to the left. If the girl wants to avoid his palm she must retreat two steps. Yelu Qi nodded his head and indeed, he did strike her ‘Big Bone’ pressure point.

The girl had always remembered, “I mustn’t raise my saber to counterattack.” But in this situation the only way to get any sort of advantage is to raise the saber and slash down; at that time she didn’t think for long, she raised her saber and slashed down.

Yelu Qi said, “Just like that!” Everyone thought he was going to snatch the saber away but who would have thought that he would take his right arm back and put his hands together in his sleeve. The girl had not slashed down with her saber yet, when she saw his arms in his sleeves she stopped momentarily. Yelu Qi suddenly stretched out his right arm, his two fingers held the saber’s blade and he lifted up; the girl could not hold on, her saber was snatched away.

After the crowd of people saw this great skill they stood there for a while, the room quiet as though empty. The girl in black stood there without moving, her face looked dejected.

Everyone thought, “Second Master hasn’t made another move, he’s giving her a chance to run away. If she doesn’t escape, what does she want?”

Yelu Qi slowly moved away and said to Yelu Yan, “She hasn’t got a weapon now, fight with her again, be a bit braver and be more aware of her palms and kicks.”

Yelu Yan stepped forward two steps and said, “Wanyan Ping, we are giving you a chance to run, but you still remain here and keep forcing us to fight, will you not give up today?”

Wanyan Ping did not reply, her head lowered in deep thought. Yelu Yan said, “If you want to fight with me then quickly get it over with!” After she said this she dashed forward and threw two fists towards her front. Wanyan Ping leapt back and said coldly, “Give back my saber.”

Yelu Yan was startled and said, “My brother took away your weapon so we could have a fair fight, why are you asking for your weapon?” She said, “Fine!” She took the Willow Leaf Saber from her brother’s hand and flung it towards her.

A guard offered out his saber and said, “Third mistress, you use a weapon as well.”

Yelu Yan said “No.” But then she thought, “I can’t beat her empty handed, we’ll compete with sabers.” She took the saber and tried out two slashes, the sword was a bit on the heavy side but she could use it if she had to.

Wanyan Ping’s face was pale white, her left hand raised her saber, her right hand pointed at Yelu Chucai and said, “Yelu Chucai, you helped the Mongols kill my parents; I won’t be able to take my revenge in this life. We’ll sort this out in hell!” After she finished her words her left hand raised the saber and moved it towards her neck.

Yang Guo heard her words and saw that her eyes and expression was cold and mournful. His heart jumped, his chest was in pain, his voice cracked as he said, “Gu Gu!”

At this time, Wanyan Ping had raised her saber to kill herself. Yelu Qi dashed forward two steps, his right arm came out and stretched out his two fingers and snatched the saber back again, and sealed her arm’s pressure points. He said, “You’re fine at the moment, why must you be so short sighted?” The time it took the saber to rise and its being snatched away happened in a flash. By the time the crowd of people saw what had happened, the saber was in Yelu Qi’s hand. Everyone in the room let out a call of surprise, no one noticed Yang Guo’s shout of ‘Gu Gu’, but Lu Wushuang was by his side and heard what he had said, she quietly whispered, “Who are you calling? Is she your Gu Gu?”

Yang Guo quickly replied, “No! No.” When he saw Wanyan Ping’s eyes showing a feeling of hurt and grief, her expression was bleak; it was just the way Xiao Longnu had looked like when she left him. After he saw this he was sentimental and mad; he didn’t know where he was.

Yelu Chucai slowly said, “Miss Wanyan, you have tried to kill me three times. I am the Prime Minister of Mongolia; I overturned your country and killed your parents. But do you know who killed my ancestors?”

Wanyan Ping shook her head and said, “I don’t know.”

Yelu Chucai said, “My ancestor were Da Liao’s (Khitan) royals; Da Liao was conquered by the Jin. The Wanyans didn’t leave many of us behind. When I was young I made an oath; I will help the Khan of Mongolia to rid the world of you Jin. Ah… When will this cycle of revenge end?” When he said these two last sentences, he looked out of the window and thought about how helping these countries to fight for power had resulted in the loss of many lives; mountains of bodies and rivers of blood were a result.

Wanyan Ping had no reply, she revealed a few of her white teeth as she bit down on her lip; she gave a grunt and said to Yelu Qi, “I failed three times because my abilities aren’t good enough; I want to leave it at that. I want to kill myself, what does that have to do with you?”

Yelu Qi said, “If Miss promises that she won’t come back to seek revenge again then you can go!”

Wanyan Ping gave another ‘huh’ sound and stared angrily. Yelu Qi used the handle of the Willow Leaf Saber and touched her waist lightly, unsealing her pressure points. He then threw the saber back towards her. Wanyan Ping struggled to catch it but eventually did, she said, “Master Yelu, you have let me go many times and have held back each time, do you think I don’t know this? It’s just that the debts between the Wanyans and Yelu’s are as deep as the sea, I must avenge my parents.”