Mei Chaofeng
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Mei Chaofeng (梅超風) is a fictional character in Jinyong's wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Known as the Iron Corpse (鐵屍) due to her dark complexion and rigid appearance, She, along with her eloped husband Chen Xuanfeng (陳玄風, the Bronze Corpse 銅屍), is one of the novel's main antagonists, heavily despised by the martial arts community for unethical behaviour. She died in battle against Ouyang_Feng (歐陽峰) for saving her boss, Huang Yaoshi (黃藥師) .
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[edit] Life
[edit] Jiu Yin Zhen Jing
Mei Chaofeng was a disciple of Huang Yaoshi, one of the "Five Supreme Martial Artists" (五絕) in the story. Huang was known for his ruthlessness and often-erratic nature, so when Mei and fellow disciple Chen Xuanfeng fell in love, they were too afraid to seek approval for marriage. Instead, they conspired to escape from their place of residence, and in the process stole their master's prized martial arts article, Jiu Yin Zhen Jing (九陰真經).
Mei and Chen were persecuted by the rest of the martial arts community, primarily because of their unethical methods (such as deceitful use of poison and unnecessarily cruel methods of killing, demonstrated in their notorious Nine Yin White Bone Claw [九陰白骨爪]). Many more, however, were keen to obtain the prized manual. The couple were forced to flee to Mongolia, where they encountered mortal enemies Jiangnan Qi Guai (江南七怪), ("Seven Freaks of Jiangnan"), headed by Ke Zhen'e (柯鎮惡). Ke Zhen'e had previously been blinded by Mei Chaofeng, and his brother slain. In the ensuing encounter, Ke Zhen'e returned the favor, blinding Mei Chaofeng. Chen Xuanfeng tried to even the odds; he took the young Guo Jing hostage. Guo Jing stabbed wildly at Chen, and was able to strike the navel, an area unprotected by Chen's peculiar martial abilities. Mei escaped with Chen's body, and discovered the Jiu Yin Zhen Jing tattooed on Chen's back.
[edit] After Chen Xuanfeng's death
Mei would continue to perfect her claw techniques in Mongolia; however she was forced to flee again when she mistakenly thought she encountered The Seven Disciples of Quanzhen, a powerful group of martial artists. The group she encountered was in fact the Seven Freaks, in collaboration of the head disciple of Quanzhen Ma Yu, aiming to scare her away from the area.
Mei found refuge in the courts of Wanyan Honglie (完顏洪烈), a Jin prince and adopted father of Yang Kang (楊康). The young Yang Kang accidentally stumbled upon Mei's refuge; in exchange for Yang keeping the secret and providing fodder for her practice, Mei agreed to teach him the powerful Nine Yin White Bone Claw (九陰白骨爪). Mei was herself crippled by incorrect application of the Jiu Yin Zhen Jing when she chanced upon Guo Jing, at the time still her inferior in martial art skills. Mei was about to kill Guo Jing for his role in Chen's death, but when she found out Guo Jing knew the methods to cure her (as well as furthering her martial arts skills), she agreed to help Guo Jing fight off his enemies.
Eventually Guo Jing and the Seven Freaks would face off with Mei Chaofeng once again, and with Guo Jing's improved martial art skills, they managed to defeat Mei.
[edit] Character
Mei's character is intriguing and complex. Despite appearing aloof and remorseless in her killings, Mei showed incredible loyalty to her master Huang Yaoshi, and was extremely remorseful for betraying Huang. Huang himself was fiercely proud of all his disciples and showed forgiveness to Mei before her death. She was killed by Ouyang Feng by intercepting a fatal blow, as Ouyang Feng attempted to attack her master from behind during a battle with the Seven Masters of Quanzhen. Before dying Mei shattered the bones and sinews in her bones in order to fulfill an earlier promise to her master. Mei's death was one of the few moments in which readers saw a tender side to Huang Yaoshi who genuinely grieved for his disciple's death and showed genuine, fatherly compassion for her as she died. Before Mei died Huang Yaoshi re-initiated her as a member of the Peach Blossom Island. It was a wish that every one of Huang's banished disciples greatly desired but ironically, all of these innocent brethren of Mei who had been implicated by her treachery never saw this wish fulfilled. All except for Lu Chengfeng had died before Huang was ever able to find the rest of them.
Mei's early life, including her betrayal of Huang, was not elaborated upon in the early description of the character. It was revealed in unconventional fashion: those stories were introduced as a thought-monologue when Mei captured Guo Jing in the Jin court. Jinyong usually introduced his characters' backgrounds either directly or via interactions between other characters (cf. Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, 雪山飛狐), he seldom used such a soliloquy-like technique.
