A Snake Lies Waiting

by Jin Yong

  Laurel was perfectly still. He was so furious, it felt as if his eyes might pop out of their sockets. He wanted to tell Emerald to run and not worry about him, but he could not make his lips move.

  4

  When gallant had grabbed Laurel, Lotus had taken the opportunity to pull the door to their chamber shut. Then she took out her dagger and waited. She listened in astonishment to what was going on in the next room. Had Gallant really asked Emerald to remove her clothing? She was indignant, and yet, she could not help but admit that there was something amusing about the situation. Such was her childish nature. She hated Gallant Ouyang, to be sure, but she was also curious to know whether the chaste Miss Cheng would strip naked.

  “Where’s the shame in taking your clothes off?” she heard Gallant say. “Were you not naked when you came from your mother’s belly? What matters most to you? Your husband, or your pride?”

  Emerald paused, then said, “Kill him, then!”

  This was the last thing Gallant had been expecting her to say, and it took him by surprise. Then he saw her lift her sword to her neck. Quickly, he threw a Bone-Piercing Awl, knocking the blade to the ground.

  Emerald was bending down to retrieve her sword when she heard a knock at the door.

  “Innkeeper! Innkeeper!”

  A woman’s voice. Emerald sighed with relief. Maybe she can help. She grabbed her weapon and then leaped to open the door.

  There, in the doorway, was a young woman in white. Her head was wrapped in white cloth and she had a sword attached at her waist. Her face was thin and pallid, but she was striking nonetheless.

  “Please, come in,” Emerald said quickly, hoping that, whoever she was, she had come to save them.

  The young woman regarded Emerald’s fine features, expensive clothes and the weapon in her hand, and was clearly surprised that she would happen upon such a person in a run-down inn, in a desolate village such as this.

  “I have two coffins with me outside. May I bring them in?”

  Emerald had no objections. Indeed, she would have let her bring in a hundred, perhaps even a thousand coffins. “Excellent,” she said, instead.

  Excellent? What an odd response, thought the young woman in white. Ordinarily, it was considered taboo to have coffins inside. Never mind. She turned and waved. Eight young men started to bring the black coffins inside.

  The woman in white then turned and was surprised to see Gallant Ouyang. Instantly, her hand dropped to the hilt of her saber.

  Gallant laughed. “It is our destiny to be together again. There’s no avoiding it when the heavens have decided it must be so. It would be a great insult for us not to obey their command.”

  The woman in white was, of course, Mercy Mu, who had been captured by Gallant Ouyang in the past. After she parted with Yang Kang in Baoying, she cut her hair as a statement of her sorrow, before remembering that she had a duty to bring the bodies of Ironheart Yang and his wife back home. They must be buried together in Ox Village. Once her task was completed, she would devote her life to the Buddhist scriptures.

  She had never set foot in Ox Village before and she found it almost entirely abandoned. The houses were barely standing. She had spotted the lone inn and decided to make inquiries there.

  The last person she expected to see was Gallant Ouyang.

  Was this finely dressed young woman his captive? Mercy had been hidden away in the coffin the day Gallant had attacked Miss Cheng, so they had never set eyes on each other. She could just as easily be one of his concubines. Mercy drew her sword.

  A flutter of robes. A shadow flickered overhead.

  Mercy jabbed her blade upward, but Gallant grasped it between his finger and thumb and pulled it, still in mid-air. He then reached for her wrist. Mercy tried to let go of her sword, but, in the split second before she could do so, her body was pulled up, landing alongside Gallant on top of the coffin that was now halfway through the door.

  The four men carrying the coffin cried out and it crashed to the ground, landing on three of the men’s feet.

  Gallant pressed Mercy to his chest, while waving his dagger at the men. They screamed, before scrambling over the coffin and out of the door. The remaining men dropped the other coffin, and they too made a hasty escape, with no thought for the money owed them.

  Now free from Gallant’s grip, Laurel had fallen to the ground. Emerald rushed to help him to his feet. She had no idea what was happening, but she was determined to get out of the inn as fast as possible.

  Still clutching Mercy, Gallant leaped toward the table. He grabbed Emerald by the belt and swept her into his grip, before locking both women’s pressure points. He sat on the bench and cried, “Miss Huang! You must join us!”

  5

  At that moment, a shadow crossed the courtyard outside and, just as suddenly, a gentleman appeared at the door. It was Yang Kang.

  He had fled Ox Village with the others, angry and humiliated by their treatment at the hands of Apothecary Huang. Nobody spoke of the shaming experience. Yang Kang had decided that, if he wanted revenge, he must first find Viper Ouyang, who was yet to return from the Imperial Palace.

  He explained his thoughts to his father, Wanyan Honglie, and came back alone, stopping to watch and wait in the forest on the outskirts of the village.

  That night, Zhou Botong, Viper Ouyang, and Apothecary Huang had come and gone so fast that Yang Kang had not been able to discern the meaning of their movements in the dark. Early the next morning, he watched as Mercy Mu arrived with the coffins. His heart thumping with excitement, he followed her to the inn and saw her go inside.

  Shortly afterward, the porters came running from the building. What was happening in there? He approached silently and peered through a crack in the door. Apothecary Huang was nowhere to be seen, but he did catch sight of Mercy Mu in Gallant Ouyang’s arms.

  Gallant Ouyang saw the young man and called out, “Your Majesty. You’re back!”

  Yang Kang nodded.

  Gallant noticed the strange look in his eyes and tried to comfort him. “All those years ago, Han Xin also humiliated himself by having to crawl between someone’s legs. But great men do not break with a bit of bending and stretching. Wait for my uncle to return; he can exact retribution on Apothecary Huang on your behalf.”

  Once more, Yang Kang nodded. His gaze was fixed on Mercy Mu.

  Gallant Ouyang smiled. “What do you say, young Prince—they are both beauties, are they not?”

  Again, Yang Kang nodded. Gallant had not been present at the Duel for a Maiden, when the Prince and Mercy had first met, and therefore knew nothing of the connection between them.

  At first, Yang Kang had not thought much of Mercy. But he had noticed her devotion to him and could not help but be moved by it. She was excessively charming and he had every intention of fulfilling his promise to wed her. To see her in Gallant’s dastardly arms made his heart swell with hatred and jealousy, but somehow he managed to maintain his composure.

  “There was a wedding here, last night,” Gallant said with a smirk. “There is wine and chicken in the kitchen. Could I trouble the Prince to fetch it? I would like to drink a toast with you. These two beauties will then strip and dance for you.”

  “Wonderful,” Yang Kang replied, and smiled.

  Mercy had been secretly pleased to see Yang Kang, but when he failed to pay her any attention, fury began to boil within her. Now, as he went along with Gallant’s plan to humiliate her, her heart turned to ice. As soon as she was free from Gallant’s grip, she would slit her throat in front of the heartless Prince. Then, finally, she would escape the cruel indignities of this world.

  She watched as he went to the kitchen, returned with the food and sat next to Gallant. Gallant poured two cups of wine and held them to Emerald and Mercy’s mouths. “Drink first; it will help you with your performance.”

  Both young women were furious, but, with their acupressure points sealed, they were unable to turn away. They were each forced to swallow ha
lf a cup.

  “Master Ouyang, I do admire your martial skills,” Yang Kang began. “Let me toast your prowess before we enjoy the dancing.”

  Gallant received the cup from Yang Kang and downed its contents in one gulp. He then released the two women’s pressure points, before casually placing his hands over the ones on their backs. “If you do as I say, you won’t get hurt. In fact, I will make you very happy!” Then he turned to Yang Kang. “Your Majesty, I guarantee you will enjoy the performance. Choose one!”

  “Why, thank you,” Yang Kang replied.

  Mercy pointed toward the coffins. “Yang Kang, do you know who lies inside those coffins?”

  Yang Kang turned and saw that, on one coffin, a red piece of paper had been affixed, bearing the words, Here lies Ironheart Yang, a loyal patriot of the Great Song. A rush of cold blood entered his heart, but his face betrayed not a trace of it.

  “Master Ouyang,” he said, seemingly ignoring Mercy’s question, “will you hold them tight? I would like to see who has the smallest feet—she will be my choice.”

  “Very clever!” Gallant said, and laughed. “I think this one has the smaller feet.” He stroked Emerald on the chin. “I have a rather special talent. I need only look at a girl’s face to know her body intimately, from head to toe.”

  “How impressive! May I bow to you and call you Master, so that you might teach me this special skill?” As he spoke, he bent down under the table.

  Both Emerald and Mercy had secretly devised the same plan. As soon as he touched their feet, they would kick at the Great Sun point, on his temple.

  “Master Ouyang,” Yang Kang called from under the table, “have another cup, and then I will tell you if you guessed correctly.”

  “All right!” He reached for another cup with both hands.

  Yang Kang glanced up from beneath the table and saw Gallant drinking, his head thrown back. Just then, he reached into his robes for the broken spearhead. Gathering all his strength to his arm, he thrust the point into Gallant’s stomach, plunging it five inches into his flesh. Then he rolled back out from underneath the table.

  Something had happened—Lotus, Mercy, Laurel, and Emerald all knew it, but they did not know exactly what. Gallant pushed the bench from under Mercy and Emerald, and threw his wine cup at the Prince. Yang Kang ducked, and the cup smashed into hundreds of small pieces. Gallant must have thrown it with extreme force.

  Yang Kang rolled toward the door, but the coffins were blocking his way. He flipped onto his feet and saw Gallant standing on his hands, on top of the bench, his chest bent forward. He wore a strange smirk on his face, and his eyes were fixed on Yang Kang. Yang Kang felt a shiver go through him. He wanted nothing more than to escape, but his feet were rooted to the spot.

  “I have been wandering for half my life, and yet, I am destined to die by the hand of a mere boy?” Gallant sneered. “Tell me, Prince, why did you kill me?”

  Yang Kang leaped. Mid-air, he felt a gust of air behind him. A hand that felt cold, like a metal hook, caught him by the neck, forcing him to land next to Gallant on the bench.

  “Won’t you answer my question? You wish me to die in ignorance?” Gallant pressed again.

  Gallant locked the pressure point on the back of Yang Kang’s neck, paralyzing him. He would not get out of this alive.

  “Very well,” Yang Kang said with a cold smile. “I’ll tell you. Do you know who she is?” he said, pointing at Mercy.

  Gallant turned to the young woman, who was poised to strike with a dagger. Mercy was reluctant to intervene lest she accidentally hurt Yang Kang. Her face bore the same expression of concern that Emerald had shown for Laurel.

  Gallant suddenly realized, and laughed. “She … She…” he began, but was cut off by a bout of coughing.

  “We are betrothed. You have harassed her repeatedly. You tell me: should I let you go?”

  “Indeed,” Gallant managed to say, smiling. “Then we are going to hell together.” With another splutter of coughing, he raised his palm as if to strike the top of Yang Kang’s skull.

  Mercy yelped and charged.

  Yang Kang had closed his eyes, waiting for Gallant’s strike. But nothing happened. He opened his eyes. Gallant’s palm was still raised and ready, but his other hand had relaxed its grip on Yang Kang’s neck. Yang Kang took his chance and leaped free.

  Gallant collapsed on top of the coffin. He was no longer breathing.

  Yang Kang and Mercy exchanged a glance before rushing toward each other. They held hands and stared at each other in silence. Neither knew where to start. They looked down at Gallant, fear still lodged in their hearts.

  Emerald unlocked Laurel’s pressure point and helped him to his feet. Laurel knew that Yang Kang was an envoy of the Jin. He had killed Gallant Ouyang, and therefore Laurel owed him a debt, but he could not treat an enemy of the Song as a friend. He cupped his hands and nodded, then took Emerald by the hand and left.

  It had been the most extraordinary few hours, and they had only narrowly escaped death. Under the circumstances, it was only natural that they forgot Lotus and Guo Jing were sitting in the next room.

  Yang Kang and Mercy’s reunification pleased Lotus. He had saved Mercy from a terrible fate. Guo Jing, too, was surprised to see his sworn brother act so honorably. He exchanged glances with Lotus and they both smiled.

  “I have brought the bodies of your parents home,” they heard Mercy say to Yang Kang.

  “I should have done that. What trouble you must have been through.”

  Mercy did not want to look back, so she focused on burial preparations for Ironheart Yang and his wife, Charity Bao.

  Yang Kang reached down and pulled the spearhead from Gallant’s abdomen. “We must bury him quickly. If his uncle finds out what happened, he will chase us to the ends of the earth.”

  Immediately, the young couple began to dig a hole behind the inn. Then they went into the village to find some people to help them carry the two coffins back to where the Yang cottage had once stood. It had been so many years since Ironheart Yang left the village that all those who remembered him had long since died. But the villagers were obliging and asked no questions.

  By the time they had finished burying their dead, darkness had already swept across the sky. That night, Mercy slept in the home of one of the villagers, while Yang Kang bedded down at the inn.

  6

  Early the next morning, Mercy returned to the inn. As she approached, she could see Yang Kang pacing about inside, stamping his feet and mumbling to himself. She went in and asked him what the matter was.

  “I should never have let those two go, yesterday. I should have killed them. Who knows where they have got to by now.”

  “Why?” Mercy asked, a little frightened.

  “They saw me kill Gallant Ouyang. What if they tell someone?”

  Mercy frowned. “Real men are brave and get things done. You shouldn’t have killed him if you were going to worry so much.”

  Yang Kang did not reply. He was too busy trying to think of how he might find Laurel and Emerald and silence them forever.

  “His uncle may be terrifying,” Mercy began, “but we can go into hiding.”

  “My dear Mercy … I have another idea. I could make his uncle my master.”

  This caught Mercy’s attention.

  “The idea first came to me a while ago. But his school of martial arts has a very strict rule: only one student per generation. Now that his disciple is dead, however, he might consider taking me on.” He seemed very proud of himself for coming up with this plan.

  A cold shiver ran through Mercy’s heart. “So, the reason you killed him,” she said with a tremble in her voice, “was not to save me. You had another purpose, all along.”

  “You are too suspicious,” Yang Kang said, and laughed. “I would do anything for you. Why, I would let myself be crushed into a thousand pieces.”

  “We can talk more about this later. What is your plan for the here and now? Are
you willing to declare your allegiance to the Great Song? Or are you still determined to follow our enemy in the name of money and power?”

  Her beauty was bewitching. But it displeased him to hear her articulate his inner thoughts. “Money? Power? Huh. What money and power do I possess? Yanjing has fallen to the Mongolians. The Jurchens have been defeated in battle after battle. The Great Jin will soon be no more.”

  The more he spoke, the more furious Mercy became. “The Jin’s downfall is our dearest wish,” she said sternly, “and yet you lament it? So what if the Great Jin is no more? Do you consider yourself Jurchen?”

  “Why are we talking about this? I have missed you bitterly ever since you left.” He approached her slowly and took her hand.

  These words softened her, and she let him pull her gently closer. Her cheeks glowed a soft pink.

  Yang Kang was about to put his arm around her when, suddenly, the screeching of birds filled the air. He rushed outside, looked up and saw a pair of white condors flying above. Yang Kang had seen another pair just like them the day his father, Wanyan Honglie, led the team of soldiers to kill Tolui. What were they doing here?

  Mercy joined him outside. The birds were now circling above them.

  There, under the shade of a nearby tree, they saw her. A young woman was sitting astride a magnificent horse, looking straight at them. She was dressed in Mongolian attire, wearing leather riding boots and carrying a whip. A bow was slung over her shoulder and a leather quiver hung from her belt.

  The condors continued to screech a while longer, before flying off again, following the road out of the village. Before long, however, they were back, accompanied by the beating of hooves.

  A cloud of dust rose on the horizon, out of which three riders emerged.

  The birds are leading horses to the girl, Yang Kang thought.

  A loud swishing sound caught their attention. An arrow. Yang Kang and Mercy watched as the Mongolian girl drew one of hers from the quiver and shot it up into the sky. The three riders heard it, whooped and spurred their horses on faster.