Tale of the Long Sword《長劍篇》is a wuxia novel by Xiao Yi and published in 1982. The following is a translation of a plot summary and short review from A Critical Dictionary of Modern Chinese Wuxia Fiction《中国现代武侠小说鉴赏辞典》edited by Liu Xinfeng, Chen Mo, et al.
There was a drama adaptation of this novel in 2005 under the title 長劍相思 (Sword of the Outlaw) starring Chen Kun and Li Bingbing, but it seems to be very different from the novel.
Plot Summary
During the year of a great drought, The Great Bandit of Liaodong, Gold Wing, arrives at Linhuai Pass and sends and invitation to the richest family of the area, that of Mai Yujie and expresses that before the night of the Midautumn Festival, he will come demanding 10,000 taels of gold. Huang Tong, one of the hangers-on at the Mai estate, in order to repay his host’s generosity, stands up for and defends his host and is seriously wounded by Gold Wing in the process. Just at the critical moment, a teacher from the Mai Family ancestral hall, Guan Xueyu, strides out and engages Gold Wing and a life-and-death battle. Guan Xueyu’s real name is Yan Xue, the son of Yan Zhuiyun, the head of the illustrious Yan School within the martial world. He is wise and brave and is an incredible martial artist.
But he is still injured by Gold Wing’s “black finger” and narrowly escapes. Guan Xueyu happens to run into the mysterious figure Miss Feng (phoenix), who saves him and uses her school’s gold feather insignia to repel the enemy. Turns out that Miss Feng is the daughter of Feng the Seventh, the head of the powerful but mysterious Seven Finger Snowy Mountain Gold Phoenix Lodge. Feng the Seventh once saved Gold Wing’s life. Miss Feng falls in love with Guan Xueyu at first sight, and she uses her sect’s secret medicine to treat Guan Xueyu and the Mai family’s only daughter, Mai Xiaoqiao, who is a student at Mount Jiuhua. However, the two cannot be fully cured of their poisoning without the antidote from Gold Wing’s sect.
Guan Xueyu bids farewell to the Mai family and Mai Xiaoqiao sees him off in the morning; the feelings between them apparent but left unspoken. Guan Xueyu arrives in Ningguo prefecture and gets to know the local chivalrous characters Bao Yu and the young master of the Beggar’s Sect, Tong Bing. Again Guan Xueyu fights with Gold Wing, but his martial arts is still not strong enough and he is defeated again. At an inn, he becomes acquainted with the martial world master Hermit Jiang and receives snake blood from Jiang with which he gets rid of the remaining poison in his body. Guan Xueyu also finds out that Hermit Jiang is the ringleader of the jianghu’s dark path and is now plotting to steal government relief aid meant to help disaster victims in Linhuai Pass. Feng the Seventh and his daughter Miss Feng also have their eyes on the relief money, as does the Great Bandit of Liaodong, Gold Wing.
Read more