A Hero Born: The Definitive Edition (Legends of the Condor Heroes #1)

by Jin Yong

The Qiantang river stretches from the west, where its waters swell day and night, past the new imperial capital of Lin’an and the nearby Ox Village, on to the sea in the east.

Qiu Chuji removed his sword, jumped down from the tree, and sliced through two of the men before the soldiers could react. “It’s the Taoist!” Qiu Chuji bowed quickly and then sha, sha, sha! slashed his sword through the whipping wind, knocking another two men from their horses.

“I am master of nothing and can claim to know a little of only three things. Of these little kung fu tricks I am a mere novice, and as for poetry I am able to write a few couplets, but no more. But I can safely say that if I can lay claim to any expertise, it is in the field of medicine.”

Could we trouble Your Reverence to think of two names for our children?” Qiu Chuji sipped from his bowl of rice wine and thought for a while. “For Master Guo’s child I suggest Guo Jing, meaning ‘Serenity,’ and for Master Yang’s child, Yang Kang, meaning ‘Vitality.’ This will remind them of the humiliation of the year Jingkang, when Kaifeng was sacked and the Emperor captured by the Jin. These names can be used for girls just as well as boys.”

“I’m going to look for Justice Duan,” Ryder Han announced. “We can’t let him go to ground, or we’ll never track him down.” As the only one not to have sustained any injury, he marched out of the door, swung himself up onto his famous golden steed, Wind Chaser, and went in pursuit of Commander Duan and Lily Li. “Brother, brother!” Zhu Cong called after him. “You’ve never laid eyes on them before!” But it was too late; Ryder Han was impatient by nature and his horse true to its name.

Guo Jing obeyed. He held the weighty bow in his left hand and drew back the arrow. Two black condors were flying wing to wing. He took aim and shot. The bow bent like the moon, the arrow flashed like a meteor.

“Clear heart, emotions departed, In empty body qi can spread. A dead mind, yet the spirit lives, For Yin thrives but the Yang is shed.”

Never strip the mountain bare and you will not want for firewood.