A Bond Undone

by Jin Yong

  Guo Jing hugged his friends one by one, knowing this was likely to be their final farewell. He watched as the yellow dust kicked up by their horses engulfed their silhouettes. He stayed standing in the road until he could no longer hear the sound of their hooves.

  “Let’s wait for Wanyan Honglie’s return,” Lotus said. “If he comes back with lots of soldiers, we can keep out of sight until it’s dark. Then we’ll kill him.”

  “I’ll hide the horses in the woods.” Guo Jing noticed something glittering in the grass as he led their mounts through the temple’s rear courtyard.

  A golden helmet, crowned by three spectacular gemstones, each as large as a longan fruit. He picked it up and showed it to Lotus.

  “Wanyan Honglie’s helmet?” she asked.

  “It must be!” Guo Jing lowered his voice. “He’s probably inside the temple!”

  Lotus tapped a foot against the temple wall, flipped up and landed quietly on the roof. “I’ll look from up here. You search on the ground.”

  Just as Guo Jing was about to dart inside the temple, he heard Lotus’s voice: “How was my qinggong just now?”

  He stopped, unsure why she asked. “Wonderful! Why?”

  “Then why didn’t you say so?”

  “Oh, but I tell myself how wonderful you are all the time!”

  Chuckling, Lotus waved and sprinted across the roofs towards the rear garden.

  2

  WHILE THE MONGOLIANS WERE BEING HARD PRESSED ATOP the flagpole, Yang Kang had caught sight of Wanyan Honglie among the soldiers, directing the onslaught. Even though he now understood that he was no blood relation of the Sixth Prince, he had always been treated as his own; he was raised as son and heir. This man was the only father Yang Kang had ever known, and his fortunes would always be bound up with his.

  If Guo Jing sees Wanyan Honglie, the man is as good as dead, Yang Kang told himself. If he did nothing now, he would be letting Guo Jing rob him of the life of wealth and power he had been groomed to inherit.

  No, he was not ready to give that up.

  Just then, a soldier thrown by Guo Jing slammed into Wanyan Honglie. The Sixth Prince of the Jin could not turn his horse fast enough and was knocked off his mount. Yang Kang darted over and scooped up the fallen man.

  “Sire, don’t make a noise,” he whispered, and, under the cover of darkness, he carried Wanyan Honglie to the rear courtyard of the temple.

  Neither Guo Jing nor Lotus noticed what Yang Kang had done.

  Yang Kang opened the door to a side chamber and set the Prince down. The clamour of the fight was dying down. He could hear footsteps fading into the distance, followed by a conversation in a language he could not understand, though he recognised one of the voices as Guo Jing’s.

  “Kang?” Wanyan Honglie was not sure if this was a dream. “How come you are here?”

  “By sheer chance,” Yang Kang said quietly. He sighed. “That Guo Jing has ruined everything.”

  Guo Jing was speaking in Chinese again. They could just about make out his words. He was telling Lotus to head west to look for Wanyan Honglie.

  Wanyan Honglie had seen how Guo Jing had dispatched three of the Daemons of the Yellow River with his bare hands. If the boy turns those hands on me, he thought with a shiver, I won’t stand a chance.

  “I don’t think they’ll look this way, sire. Let’s wait for them to go further before we make our way out.”

  “Of course . . . Why are you calling me sire, Kang? You’ve always called me Pa.”

  No answer.

  Yang Kang was thinking of his mother, and his heart churned.

  “Your mother . . .” Wanyan Honglie took his son’s hand. It was ice cold, but clammy with sweat.

  Yang Kang pulled away. “Stay away from Zhongdu for the next six months. Guo Jing is determined to avenge his father’s death. His kung fu is strong and he knows a lot of martial masters. You won’t be able to defend yourself.”

  The memory of Ox Village eighteen years ago washed over Wanyan Honglie along with a wave of grief, both then chased away by a surge of guilt. He did not trust himself to speak.

  “Understood. I will keep away from the capital,” he eventually muttered. “How was Lin’an? What did Chancellor Shi say?”

  “I never got there.”

  Wanyan Honglie surmised that the coolness shown by his son must have been due to him learning of his true parentage. But, if so, why had he helped him just now? They had been close for eighteen years, doting father and filial son. Now, sitting in the dark in this small chamber, their bodies close, he could feel the bad blood between them.

  A battle had been raging inside Yang Kang since they had taken refuge in this room. He realised this was his chance to avenge his parents. He could easily kill the man responsible for the death of his birth parents with a flip of his palm, but he was haunted by doubts.

  Can I muster the resolve to kill him right now? Ironheart Yang might be my birth father, but what did he ever do for me? Ma was always kind to Father; if I kill him now, surely it won’t please Ma’s spirit in the underworld. Do I want to give up all that I’ve enjoyed since birth? Am I ready to renounce my privileges as a prince and wander around as a thief and a bandit with Guo Jing?

  “Kang, my son, you will always be my true-born heir. No matter what.”

  Wanyan Honglie’s words caused Yang Kang’s heart to thump against his ribcage.

  “Within ten years, our Great Jin Empire will finish the Song. The realm and its infinite wealth will be in my grasp, and one day they will be yours.”

  He means to usurp the throne! This new insight delivered Yang Kang from his dilemma. Now he could appraise his situation from a different perspective.

  The Jin army will destroy the Song easily. The Mongols are a nuisance, but those savages on horseback will never amount to much more than a marauding horde. Not even our Emperor can match Father’s wit and abilities. So, once he gets his way, I too will ascend to greatness.

  Yang Kang took his father’s hand. “Your child will stand by your side, Pa. Always.”

  His hand isn’t cold anymore, Wanyan Honglie noted with joy. “We shall found a great dynasty and you will bring glory to our name.”

  A crack came from behind, cutting short Yang Kang’s reply. The two men whipped around, their hearts gripped by fear.

  Faint rays of light were now shining through the window lattice, heralding the break of dawn. They had been leaning against a stack of half a dozen coffins! This chamber must be where they stored unused coffins and placed their deceased before burial. The sound seemed to have come from inside one of the wooden caskets.

  “What was that?” Wanyan Honglie was spooked.

  “A rat?”

  More alarming sounds followed.

  Footsteps, voices. Coming their way.

  Guo Jing and Lotus Huang.

  We dropped the helmet outside, Yang Kang realised with horror.

  “I’ll create a diversion,” he whispered. He opened the door as quietly as he could and leapt onto the roof.

  “There!” Lotus raced after the fleeting shadow, but it turned a corner and disappeared.

  “He must be in that bush!” As Lotus moved closer, the vegetation rustled and parted.

  “Brother! Have you seen Wanyan Honglie?” Guo Jing asked.

  “Why would he be here?” Yang Kang asked, feigning surprise.

  “He led the soldiers. This is his helmet.”

  “Oh, really?”

  Lotus could tell something was not quite right. Yang Kang’s furtive conversation with Gallant Ouyang came back to her.

  “Where did you go?” she asked, with an accusatory tone. “We looked everywhere for you.”

  “Something I ate earlier disagreed with me.” He pointed at the bush.

  Lotus did not believe him, but she had no desire to be confronted by the proof, should he be telling the truth.

  “Let’s find Wanyan Honglie!” Guo Jing urged.

  “What great news th
at he has come to us to meet his fate,” Yang Kang said, trying to keep his face blank. He hoped he had given his father enough time to escape. “Why don’t you and Miss Huang search the east side? I’ll take the west.”

  Guo Jing was already through the eastern entrance, the Gate of Filial Integrity, before Yang Kang had finished his sentence, but the ploy did not work on Lotus.

  “Brother Yang, I’ll come with you.”

  “Well, we must make haste. We can’t let him slip away!” Yang Kang prayed Lotus would not see through his show of enthusiasm.

  The Liu clan was once a wealthy and important family in Baoying. However, as the town was close to the Jin border, the region had suffered numerous incursions from roaming troops. Buildings were torched and fields were trampled. The skirmishes brought about the Liu family’s decline and their ancestral temple had fallen into disrepair.

  Lotus watched Yang Kang as he searched. Though he kept stressing the urgency, he was moving with deliberate sloth through each room. The doors he opened were also long-sealed by dust and cobwebs.

  She spotted a mess of footsteps stamped into the dust outside the westernmost chamber. As she approached, she saw a fresh handprint pressed into the grime on the door.

  Her suspicions were confirmed.

  “He’s hiding in here!” Lotus cried as she kicked the door down.

  Yang Kang rushed over, followed by Guo Jing. Barging ahead of Lotus, Yang Kang raised his voice. “Wanyan Honglie, where are you? Come out, villain!”

  “Brother Yang, he heard our approach long ago. There is no need to be his messenger.”

  “This is no laughing matter!” he snarled back, but the shame of being found out had stained Yang Kang’s face crimson.

  “Please don’t take offence, brother; Lotus loves to tease.” Guo Jing smiled. He had never once suspected Yang Kang of wavering in his allegiance. “Look, someone was sitting here not long ago. He really was here.”

  “What are we waiting for?” The coffins were making Lotus jittery.

  As she turned to leave, a muffled crack sounded.

  It can’t be!

  She paused and cast her eye over the coffins. One of them appeared to be rocking from side to side. Yelping, she latched on to Guo Jing’s arm.

  “That . . . that villain must be inside.” Fear had yet to cloud her wits.

  “Over there!” Yang Kang pointed in another direction and gave chase.

  Yet, before he had managed to step outside, Lotus grabbed his wrist and locked onto his pulse. “Enough of your games!”

  “What are you doing?” Yang Kang felt his arm become numb.

  Guo Jing approached the coffin – “He must be in here!” – and wrenched at its lid.

  “Careful, brother. It could be one of the undead!” Yang Kang called.

  “Stop it!” Lotus tightened her hold and yanked. She did not need Yang Kang stoking her fears.

  “Press down on the lid.” Her voice trembled. “Don’t let that . . . thing come out.”

  “The undead don’t exist,” Guo Jing said, and sat on the coffin. “He can’t come out now.”

  Lotus did not look convinced. “I’ll hit the coffin with the Splitting Sky Palm. We’ll be able to hear whether it’s the cry of a man or the wail of a ghost.”

  She let go of Yang Kang and took two steps forward. She channelled strength into her hand and got ready to strike at the coffin.

  But, of course, Yang Kang had no idea that Lotus had not mastered the technique and could do no damage to the coffin or its contents. She only intended to slap loudly on the wooden board to frighten whatever was within.

  “Stop! What if you smash through the wood and it bites you on the hand?” he cried.

  Aaaahh . . . yeeeee . . .

  A woman’s wail.

  “A ghost!” Lotus screamed and ran outside.

  The supernatural did not frighten Guo Jing. “Brother Yang, let’s take a look.”

  Yang Kang was ready to defend his father, even though he knew he stood no chance. But Wanyan Honglie could not have made that noise. His relief was palpable, and so he went to help Guo Jing.

  The lid lifted with ease. It was not nailed down.

  Guo Jing summoned his strength and raised his arm as he peered inside, just in case. The coffin contained no creature of death. Only a beautiful young woman looked back at him, wide eyed. Mercy Mu!

  Yang Kang could not believe his good fortune as he reached in to pull Mercy out of the coffin.

  “Lotus, look who we found!” Guo Jing called. Lotus turned, but kept her eyes screwed shut. “It’s Sister Mu!”

  Lotus let her right eye open into a slit and saw Yang Kang’s arm around a woman that looked very much like Mercy Mu. Gingerly, she approached.

  Why does Mercy look so stiff? she wondered, before recognising that her friend’s limbs were locked by her acupressure points. Two streams of tears were running down Mercy’s cheeks.

  With a few taps, Lotus freed Mercy from the bind. “Sister, who put you in there?”

  Mercy Mu had been immobile for some time. Even though she was now free, she felt sore and numb all over. She focused on regulating her breathing, while Lotus massaged her joints. After the time it takes to finish a pot of tea, she eventually spoke. “I was captured by a villain.”

  “Gallant Ouyang?” Lotus asked quietly. She noticed Mercy’s movement had been locked via the Gushing Spring pressure point in the arch of the foot. It was not one commonly used in the wulin of the Central Plains.

  Mercy nodded, reliving the night of her capture. She shuddered at the memory of how Gallant Ouyang had locked her acupressure points beside the stack of skulls made by Yang Kang’s shifu. When Gallant Ouyang ambushed the blind woman with his snakes, a stranger in a green robe had appeared from nowhere and played a seductive tune on the xiao flute, sending Gallant Ouyang’s women and snake herders into a frenzy, and the awful lecher himself running for his life. When Gallant Ouyang’s followers came to, the next day, they found her still bound by her pressure points on the ground and brought her back to their Master.

  After that, things got worse for Mercy. Gallant Ouyang made several advances, but she insisted she would rather die than compromise her chastity. Fortunately, the Master of White Camel Mount felt forcing himself on her was beneath him. He believed his looks, his charm and his martial knowledge were sufficient to melt the coldest of hearts. His conceit preserved Mercy’s virtue.

  When Gallant Ouyang and his retinue arrived in Baoying, they set up base in the ancestral temple of the Liu clan and placed Mercy in a coffin, for safekeeping. His disciples went around the town, seeking out its beauties, but their abduction of Miss Cheng brought the Beggar Clan out in force, along with Guo Jing and Lotus Huang. Once more, Gallant Ouyang had to run for his life, and everyone forgot about Mercy. The libertine did not much care about leaving one or two of his prizes behind. After all, he had captured many women in his life and knew there would always be more.

  If Guo Jing had not searched the temple for Wanyan Honglie, Mercy would have starved to death in this empty coffin, forgotten by the world.

  Thrilled by this unexpected encounter with his sweetheart, Yang Kang’s face was a picture of loving tenderness. “My dear, do rest a bit. Let me boil some hot water for you.”

  “Have you ever boiled water?” Lotus grinned. “I’ll do it. Guo Jing, come with me.” She wanted to give the lovers some privacy.

  Stern and without the merest hint of a smile, Mercy’s face shared none of the excitement visible on Yang Kang’s. Once they were alone, she spoke quietly. “Congratulations, Yang Kang.” She spat out his last name with frosty disdain. “I hear you shall come into infinite wealth one day.”

  She heard my exchange with Father! Yang Kang felt his spine turn to ice and his face sear with embarrassment. He was at a loss how to respond.

  Seeing his discomfort, Mercy’s heart softened. If they find out he helped Wanyan Honglie escape, they might . . . She decided to keep his secret an
d vented her annoyance another way. “But why did you suddenly start calling him sire instead of Pa?”

  Yang Kang stared at the ground in awkward silence.

  Though, by now, Lotus had moved too far away to make out what Mercy was saying to Yang Kang, she could tell the tone between them was cold. She assumed it was a lovers’ tiff, that her friend was angry with Yang Kang for not coming to her rescue sooner.

  “Let’s go.” She tugged on Guo Jing’s sleeve. “I’m sure they’ll make up in no time.” Guo Jing smiled and followed quietly.

  Yet, once they were in the courtyard, Lotus said, “Let’s spy on them.”

  “Don’t be silly, I’m not doing that.”

  “Fine! But I won’t tell you what I find out!” She hopped onto the roof and tiptoed back towards the westernmost chamber.

  “. . . you called that villain Father. Perhaps you can’t quite let go of the past yet, your heart hasn’t quite adjusted to reality. But harbouring treacherous thoughts, talking about bringing ruin to the land of your birth, this . . . this . . .” Lotus could tell Mercy was very angry – so worked up that she could not finish her sentence.

  “Sweetheart, I—”

  “Who are you calling sweetheart? Don’t touch me!”

  Smack!

  She must have slapped him! I need to do something. Lotus flipped down from the roof and entered through the window.

  “My, my! Surely, whatever it is, there is no need for violence? We can talk it through, can’t we?” Lotus said.

  Mercy’s cheeks flushed crimson, while the blood had drained from Yang Kang’s face.

  Before Lotus could say another word, Yang Kang said loudly, “Well, clearly you have met another and I am to be discarded. That’s why you’re treating me like this!”

  “What . . .? What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been with that Gallant Ouyang. We all know he’s ten times the man I am in every way – his kung fu, his learning – I can’t compare. After him, why would you still keep me in your heart?”

  It was now Mercy’s turn to go pale. Her hands and feet had turned ice cold. She almost fainted.