![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Review: Louis Cha - The Return of the Condor Heroes (金庸 - 神鵰俠侶) (1961)
Overall, this was an alright story. It was still tropey as heck, but Yang Guo as a main protagonist was a bit more compelling than Guo Jing, which made those detours more interesting to read in Return of the Condor Heroes (RotCH). Like Legend of the Condor Heroes (LotCH), I'd recommend this book for those who want to learn more about the Wuxia literary genre.
Spoilers.
Story
Since RotCH was a direct sequel to LotCH, it didn't need to spend as much time setting up the world. For instance, most readers already had knowledge of the great heroes in Jianghu, what the Quanzhen Sect was, etc.
As I mentioned, Yang Guo was a more interesting character than Guo Jing. He was more rogue-ish than Guo Jing, who was just a paragon of moral excellence and nothing else. Only when Huang Rong was added into the equation was LotCH more interesting. However, since Yang Guo was basically Huang Rong and Guo Jing in one character (both smart and able to fight), he was able to carry the story for long periods of time without Xiao Longnv.
LotCH had Guo Jing and Huang Rong jumping from adventure to adventure with no significant links between adventures. RotCH's mini-adventures tied a little better into the overall story, which was usually about how Yang Guo needed to find or save Xiao Longnv, or how Yang Guo/Xiao Longnv needed to find an antidote to cure their poison. Maybe it's because Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv were young adults, whereas Guo Jing and Huang Rong were teenagers, so they just had a more consistent idea of what they wanted to do.
Another thing that made RotCH a much better read was that it didn't rely as much on miscommunication. LotCH had entire story arcs based on massive miscommunication across Wulin and it was so infuriating that I had to speed through those chapters to get to the resolution. It was just a very lazy way of extending a story and to get people to fight for no reason. There was much less of that here. Either the miscommunication was purposely used to mislead enemies, or it was just a lovers' spat between Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv, which I never took too seriously because I was pretty sure that they would end up together while I was reading.
In general, I thought that RotCH was a better read than LotCH, but for those who are bothered by Wuxia tropes, it might still be too tropey for them.
Characters
I've used the character list from Wikipedia to form my section here, but I've cut out a lot of characters that weren't very important to the plot or didn't leave a big impression on me.
Yang Guo
Yang Guo was more compelling as a main protagonist than Guo Jing. Guo Jing's character was all about doing the right thing, whereas Yang Guo's character also had emotions involved. While Yang Guo did try to do the right thing, he was still always looking out for Xiao Longnv's well-being, and anybody who hurt her was on his hit list.
Yang Guo was also a massive flirt and liked to mess with other people, but as the story passed, I think he realized how leading others on wasn't a good thing to do, both because the other party would be discouraged, and also because he didn't want to make Xiao Longnv sad.
During the sixteen years that Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv were apart, he became a hero who was famed for doing the right thing, so I think that his morals really aligned with Guo Jing's on a base level. But he was a much smarter and more cunning guy than Guo Jing.
Xiao Longnv
Xiao Longnv is probably famed for being one of Jin Yong's most beautiful female characters. Her beauty was always the first thing that people noticed about her. It was pretty creepy at first too, because you technically had Quanzhen dudes in their thirties thirsting over a sixteen year old, but in most adaptations, I think the ages are evened out to make things less uncomfortable.
What never changes is that Xiao Longnv is always a little bit older than Yang Guo and is entrusted with taking care of him. Technically, she was supposed to be his master, so they were from different generations, but in practice, she was more like a big sister to him.
Xiao Longnv was also known for being an ice princess. This was justified by explaining that she was trained to have no feelings for martial arts reasons. Xiao Longnv's lack of emotion was used to explain both her coldness and the fact that she barely aged over time.
I think some people have issues with Xiao Longnv as someone who becomes obsessed with love. Xiao Longnv is a great fighter in her own right, but after recognizing her love for Yang Guo, her life just becomes about him. I suppose this makes sense as Yang Guo was her only family. On the other hand, Yang Guo had lived in the outside world and understood the value of social relationships with others outside of the Ancient Tomb Sect.
Despite being a female lead, Xiao Longnv didn't actually have that much screen time. I think her skill set and her set of weapons/equipment are pretty cool. She has her gloves, her bells, and her jade bees. In addition to learning the Jade Heart skill with Yang Guo, she also learned the mutual hand combat skill from Zhou Botong, which she was able to use and apply in a creative way.
Xiao Longnv wasn't a perfect character, but I can see how she's become an icon for the fairy maiden type of warrior.
Guo family & associates
Guo Jing
Guo Jing mostly retained the same traits from LotCH. He was very righteous. However, as a person with years of experience, it was a relief that he had at least grown up and wasn't nearly as dumb as he was portrayed to be in LotCH. However, he was still stubborn about upholding his principles including patriotism, not going back on one's word, etc.
In addition to being a famed fighter, Guo Jing continued being a general, fighting against the Mongols.
Huang Rong
Huang Rong was fleshed out more in this book, which I appreciated. She was wary of Yang Guo at first because of his parentage, but she learned to see past her prejudices and recognize that Yang Guo was his own man who was capable of making his own decisions.
We also saw Huang Rong as a mother in this book. She spoiled Guo Fu, and thus learned to be more strict with Guo Xiang and Guo Polu, but technically the damage was already done. She remained an important figure in the Beggars' Clan and was recognized throughout Jianghu as a smart and skillful fighter.
Guo Fu
Guo Fu's appearances in this book made it nearly unreadable for the most part. This girl was not smart and also incapable of apologizing. So she'd make a mistake and have no choice but to double down on it. The only reason that Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen were even in love with her was because she was literally the only girl they knew.
In the end, Guo Fu apologized to Yang Guo for all the pain she'd caused him, from the bullying to badmouthing Xiao Longnv in front of him to CUTTING OFF HIS ARM OUT OF RAGE. In my opinion, that didn't really change much as it was introduced at the last moment. But I think Guo Fu might've been the worst character in the entire book.
Guo Xiang
On the other hand, Guo Xiang was a much more pleasant daughter to be around. She was clever like Huang Rong, but not as spoiled or mischievous. She was just really curious and good-hearted.
I'm not sure if she is a character in Heavey Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre, but I know for sure that she leaves behind a legacy.
Guo Polu
Guo Polu was Guo Xiang's twin, and basically a carbon copy of Guo Jing. He was not smart, but at least he listened to his parents.
Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen
Wu Durnu and Wu Xiuwen lost their mom at a young age and were taken in by Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Though they learned from Guo Jing, they weren't nearly as skilled fighters as him. As mentioned, they were both in love with Guo Fu, to the point that they were going to kill each other over it. Yang Guo had to step in and trick them out of killing each other, but it led to Xiao Longnv getting the wrong idea.
I'll be honest, I still forget which one is the older brother and which one is the younger brother, because they're basically the same type of character. One of them ended up marrying Yelv Yan and the other ended up marrying Wanyan Ping.
Yelv Qi
I think Yelv Qi was really only introduced to give Guo Fu someone to marry. He was supposedly an apprentice of Zhou Botong but that relationship is questionable considering Zhou Botong can barely keep himself in check, let alone a student.
He married Guo Fu and was later the Chief of the Beggars' Clan.
The Greats
Zhou Botong
Zhou Botong continued being a fun character to read in this book. He befriended both Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv, and helped them along the way in their adventures.
Zhou Botong also finally faced Yinggu, and it's shown that he, Reverend Yideng, and Yinggu live in little huts beside each other now that they've reconciled.
Huang Yaoshi
Huang Yaoshi didn't have a big role in this book, other than befriending Yang Guo and teaching him the Divine flicking finger skill.
Hong Qigong
Hong Qigong died in this book after meeting Yang Guo. He eventually fights to his death after meeting his old nemesis Ouyang Feng.
Ouyang Feng
In this book, Ouyang Feng is portrayed as a pitiful man who went mad after his acupoints were reversed by Huang Rong in LotCH. He adopted Yang Guo as his adoptive son, as he'd missed his own son Ouyang Ke and Yang Guo had no father himself.
Despite that, Ouyang Feng was still known to be a baddie in Jianghu, and he and Hong Qigong fought to their deaths at Mount Hua.
Reverend Yideng
Reverend Yideng continued to be the all around nice guy in this novel. He took on Qiu Qianren as a disciple and would pop up during certain conflicts to mediate between angry parties. As mentioned, he ended up living next to Yinggu and Zhou Botong, which is kind of sweet and nice :3
Mongol Empire
Jinlun Fawang
Jinlun Fawang was one of the main villains in this book. I think he was an interesting person from a martial aspect. Like, his five wheels were kinda cool, and I think he was pretty in the know about martial arts in general.
Passionless Valley
Gongsun Zhi
Gongsun Zhi was a more straightforward evil villain in this book. He was willing to kill his family and loved ones to save himself.
Qiu Qianchi
While Qiu Qianchi was wronged by Gongsun Zhi, she was also cold and heartless. Her limbs were broken, so she relied on spitting projectiles as her only form of fighting. After several scuffles with Gongsun Zhi, they both fell to their deaths.
Gongsun Lv'e
She was Gongsun Zhi and Qiu Qianchi's daughter. She was kind and in love with Yang Guo, and ultimately gave up her own life to help Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv.
Ancient Tomb Sect
Li Mochou
Like Jinlun Fawang, I also thought that Li Mochou was an interesting villain from both an aesthetics and martial arts perspective. When Li Mochou first showed up, I was reminded of Mei Chaofeng from LotCH, as they both fulfilled the "scary female villain" role.
Li Mochou had a personal connection to Xiao Longnv as she was her martial sister, but was banished early on and thus didn't learn some of the skills that Xiao Longnv did. In addition, the rules of her sect conditioned Li Mochou to be more conservative when it came to sexual and romantic relationships, so she was sensitive to men who got too close.
Li Mochou was also very selfish. She had sacrificed her own disciple Hong Lingbo to stop herself from falling into the flowers in the Passionless Valley, but I think she ended up being poisoned anyway and sought death as the pain was too much.
Granny Sun
Granny Sun was tasked with taking care of Xiao Longnv from a young age, including her martial arts education. Granny Sun had pitied Yang Guo and made Xiao Longnv promise to take care of him after her death.
Lu family
Cheng Ying
Cheng Ying was one of the two girls who survived the massacre by Li Mochou in the beginning of the book. She was eventually saved by Huang Yaoshi and was thus technically Huang Rong's martial sister. She was portrayed to be the calmer of the two cousins. She also crushed on Yang Guo, but like all of his other crushes, figured that he was madly in love with Xiao Longnv. She eventually became Yang Guo's sworn sister right before the timeskip.
Lu Wushuang
Lu Wushuang was Cheng Ying's cousin, and the other girl who survived the massacre. However, she was taken by Li Mochou and treated poorly throughout her life. Lu Wushuang first met Yang Guo the first time he was looking for Xiao Longnv and they developed a bantering relationship (well, it was more like Yang Guo bothering her and her getting annoyed). Like Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang also liked Yang Guo but gave up on him. She also became Yang Guo's sworn sister before the timeskip.
Quanzhen Sect
Zhao Zhijing
Zhao Zhijing was first tasked with becoming Yang Guo's teacher when he was first brought to Quanzhen. However, he was a terrible teacher and didn't teach Yang Guo a single thing.
Zhao Zhijing had intended to usurp the leadership position in the Quanzhen sect with the help of the Mongols, but his plan didn't work out, and he was killed.
Yin Zhiping
Yin Zhiping was a side character in LotCH, just popping up when the Quanzhen sect needed an extra person. However, he was extra scummy in this book. He'd been lusting after Xiao Longnv for a long time. When Zhou Botong was teaching Yang Guo something and didn't want Xiao Longnv to bother them, he pressed on her acupoints so she couldn't move. Yin Zhiping took advantage of her not moving and having blocked vision (something was covering her face) and raped her.
Yin Zhiping knew he should rot in hell for taking advantage of Xiao Longnv. He was basically ready to die for her as she was understandably very angry with him, and he does. Xiao Longnv did kind of forgive him, but I'm not going to put too much weight in that "forgiveness."
Dali Kingdom
Liu Ying
Liu Ying made an appearance again when she bumped into Yang Guo and Guo Xiang as they needed live foxes to save one of the Shi brothers.
As Qiu Qianren lay dying, Yang Guo and Guo Xiang helped Reverend Yideng fetch Zhou Botong to come to them so that there could be a big reconciliation.
Shaolin Sect
Jueyuan and Zhang Junbao showed up very briefly at the end of the book. They showed up so suddenly that I had doubts whether I was really reading the end of the book. Zhang Junbao changed his name to Zhang Sanfeng and founds the Wudan sect later. I believe he's an ancestor of Zhang Wuji (the protagonist of Heaven Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre).
Guo Xiang's friends
Ghosts of the Western Mountain Cave
They helped Guo Xiang find the Divine Eagle Hero aka Yang Guo and later remained her friends.
Five Shi Brothers
They were fighting with the Ghosts of the Western Mountains when Guo Xiang and Yang Guo intervened.
Others
Qiu Qianren
Between LotCH and RotCH, Qiu Qianren became a monk under Reverend Yideng's tutelage, and renamed himself Ci'en. During the book, he was shown to struggle between the revenge and grudges of his past life, and maintaining eternal peace and being rid of mortal feelings.
In the end, he was forgiven by Yinggu for killing his son and died.
Themes
Patriotism
Though patriotism is still a big theme in this book, it was not as prominent as it was in LotCH because Yang Guo himself was not closely acquainted with any major authority figures and he himself did not formally fight as a part of any side.
As the Divine Eagle Hero, he still did deeds on behalf of the Song Empire and was recognized as a patriot, but he was still more of a rogue vigilante than an actual agent of the Song.
Overall
This was a more enjoyable read than LotCH, but I don't think that one could read RotCH without having read LotCH. The fan translation I was reading was okay, but was still very amateur. I'm going to take a short break to read another book and then finally get to finishing this trilogy with Heaven Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre.
Spoilers.
Story
Since RotCH was a direct sequel to LotCH, it didn't need to spend as much time setting up the world. For instance, most readers already had knowledge of the great heroes in Jianghu, what the Quanzhen Sect was, etc.
As I mentioned, Yang Guo was a more interesting character than Guo Jing. He was more rogue-ish than Guo Jing, who was just a paragon of moral excellence and nothing else. Only when Huang Rong was added into the equation was LotCH more interesting. However, since Yang Guo was basically Huang Rong and Guo Jing in one character (both smart and able to fight), he was able to carry the story for long periods of time without Xiao Longnv.
LotCH had Guo Jing and Huang Rong jumping from adventure to adventure with no significant links between adventures. RotCH's mini-adventures tied a little better into the overall story, which was usually about how Yang Guo needed to find or save Xiao Longnv, or how Yang Guo/Xiao Longnv needed to find an antidote to cure their poison. Maybe it's because Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv were young adults, whereas Guo Jing and Huang Rong were teenagers, so they just had a more consistent idea of what they wanted to do.
Another thing that made RotCH a much better read was that it didn't rely as much on miscommunication. LotCH had entire story arcs based on massive miscommunication across Wulin and it was so infuriating that I had to speed through those chapters to get to the resolution. It was just a very lazy way of extending a story and to get people to fight for no reason. There was much less of that here. Either the miscommunication was purposely used to mislead enemies, or it was just a lovers' spat between Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv, which I never took too seriously because I was pretty sure that they would end up together while I was reading.
In general, I thought that RotCH was a better read than LotCH, but for those who are bothered by Wuxia tropes, it might still be too tropey for them.
Characters
I've used the character list from Wikipedia to form my section here, but I've cut out a lot of characters that weren't very important to the plot or didn't leave a big impression on me.
Yang Guo
Yang Guo was more compelling as a main protagonist than Guo Jing. Guo Jing's character was all about doing the right thing, whereas Yang Guo's character also had emotions involved. While Yang Guo did try to do the right thing, he was still always looking out for Xiao Longnv's well-being, and anybody who hurt her was on his hit list.
Yang Guo was also a massive flirt and liked to mess with other people, but as the story passed, I think he realized how leading others on wasn't a good thing to do, both because the other party would be discouraged, and also because he didn't want to make Xiao Longnv sad.
During the sixteen years that Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv were apart, he became a hero who was famed for doing the right thing, so I think that his morals really aligned with Guo Jing's on a base level. But he was a much smarter and more cunning guy than Guo Jing.
Xiao Longnv
Xiao Longnv is probably famed for being one of Jin Yong's most beautiful female characters. Her beauty was always the first thing that people noticed about her. It was pretty creepy at first too, because you technically had Quanzhen dudes in their thirties thirsting over a sixteen year old, but in most adaptations, I think the ages are evened out to make things less uncomfortable.
What never changes is that Xiao Longnv is always a little bit older than Yang Guo and is entrusted with taking care of him. Technically, she was supposed to be his master, so they were from different generations, but in practice, she was more like a big sister to him.
Xiao Longnv was also known for being an ice princess. This was justified by explaining that she was trained to have no feelings for martial arts reasons. Xiao Longnv's lack of emotion was used to explain both her coldness and the fact that she barely aged over time.
I think some people have issues with Xiao Longnv as someone who becomes obsessed with love. Xiao Longnv is a great fighter in her own right, but after recognizing her love for Yang Guo, her life just becomes about him. I suppose this makes sense as Yang Guo was her only family. On the other hand, Yang Guo had lived in the outside world and understood the value of social relationships with others outside of the Ancient Tomb Sect.
Despite being a female lead, Xiao Longnv didn't actually have that much screen time. I think her skill set and her set of weapons/equipment are pretty cool. She has her gloves, her bells, and her jade bees. In addition to learning the Jade Heart skill with Yang Guo, she also learned the mutual hand combat skill from Zhou Botong, which she was able to use and apply in a creative way.
Xiao Longnv wasn't a perfect character, but I can see how she's become an icon for the fairy maiden type of warrior.
Guo family & associates
Guo Jing
Guo Jing mostly retained the same traits from LotCH. He was very righteous. However, as a person with years of experience, it was a relief that he had at least grown up and wasn't nearly as dumb as he was portrayed to be in LotCH. However, he was still stubborn about upholding his principles including patriotism, not going back on one's word, etc.
In addition to being a famed fighter, Guo Jing continued being a general, fighting against the Mongols.
Huang Rong
Huang Rong was fleshed out more in this book, which I appreciated. She was wary of Yang Guo at first because of his parentage, but she learned to see past her prejudices and recognize that Yang Guo was his own man who was capable of making his own decisions.
We also saw Huang Rong as a mother in this book. She spoiled Guo Fu, and thus learned to be more strict with Guo Xiang and Guo Polu, but technically the damage was already done. She remained an important figure in the Beggars' Clan and was recognized throughout Jianghu as a smart and skillful fighter.
Guo Fu
Guo Fu's appearances in this book made it nearly unreadable for the most part. This girl was not smart and also incapable of apologizing. So she'd make a mistake and have no choice but to double down on it. The only reason that Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen were even in love with her was because she was literally the only girl they knew.
In the end, Guo Fu apologized to Yang Guo for all the pain she'd caused him, from the bullying to badmouthing Xiao Longnv in front of him to CUTTING OFF HIS ARM OUT OF RAGE. In my opinion, that didn't really change much as it was introduced at the last moment. But I think Guo Fu might've been the worst character in the entire book.
Guo Xiang
On the other hand, Guo Xiang was a much more pleasant daughter to be around. She was clever like Huang Rong, but not as spoiled or mischievous. She was just really curious and good-hearted.
I'm not sure if she is a character in Heavey Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre, but I know for sure that she leaves behind a legacy.
Guo Polu
Guo Polu was Guo Xiang's twin, and basically a carbon copy of Guo Jing. He was not smart, but at least he listened to his parents.
Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen
Wu Durnu and Wu Xiuwen lost their mom at a young age and were taken in by Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Though they learned from Guo Jing, they weren't nearly as skilled fighters as him. As mentioned, they were both in love with Guo Fu, to the point that they were going to kill each other over it. Yang Guo had to step in and trick them out of killing each other, but it led to Xiao Longnv getting the wrong idea.
I'll be honest, I still forget which one is the older brother and which one is the younger brother, because they're basically the same type of character. One of them ended up marrying Yelv Yan and the other ended up marrying Wanyan Ping.
Yelv Qi
I think Yelv Qi was really only introduced to give Guo Fu someone to marry. He was supposedly an apprentice of Zhou Botong but that relationship is questionable considering Zhou Botong can barely keep himself in check, let alone a student.
He married Guo Fu and was later the Chief of the Beggars' Clan.
The Greats
Zhou Botong
Zhou Botong continued being a fun character to read in this book. He befriended both Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv, and helped them along the way in their adventures.
Zhou Botong also finally faced Yinggu, and it's shown that he, Reverend Yideng, and Yinggu live in little huts beside each other now that they've reconciled.
Huang Yaoshi
Huang Yaoshi didn't have a big role in this book, other than befriending Yang Guo and teaching him the Divine flicking finger skill.
Hong Qigong
Hong Qigong died in this book after meeting Yang Guo. He eventually fights to his death after meeting his old nemesis Ouyang Feng.
Ouyang Feng
In this book, Ouyang Feng is portrayed as a pitiful man who went mad after his acupoints were reversed by Huang Rong in LotCH. He adopted Yang Guo as his adoptive son, as he'd missed his own son Ouyang Ke and Yang Guo had no father himself.
Despite that, Ouyang Feng was still known to be a baddie in Jianghu, and he and Hong Qigong fought to their deaths at Mount Hua.
Reverend Yideng
Reverend Yideng continued to be the all around nice guy in this novel. He took on Qiu Qianren as a disciple and would pop up during certain conflicts to mediate between angry parties. As mentioned, he ended up living next to Yinggu and Zhou Botong, which is kind of sweet and nice :3
Mongol Empire
Jinlun Fawang
Jinlun Fawang was one of the main villains in this book. I think he was an interesting person from a martial aspect. Like, his five wheels were kinda cool, and I think he was pretty in the know about martial arts in general.
Passionless Valley
Gongsun Zhi
Gongsun Zhi was a more straightforward evil villain in this book. He was willing to kill his family and loved ones to save himself.
Qiu Qianchi
While Qiu Qianchi was wronged by Gongsun Zhi, she was also cold and heartless. Her limbs were broken, so she relied on spitting projectiles as her only form of fighting. After several scuffles with Gongsun Zhi, they both fell to their deaths.
Gongsun Lv'e
She was Gongsun Zhi and Qiu Qianchi's daughter. She was kind and in love with Yang Guo, and ultimately gave up her own life to help Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv.
Ancient Tomb Sect
Li Mochou
Like Jinlun Fawang, I also thought that Li Mochou was an interesting villain from both an aesthetics and martial arts perspective. When Li Mochou first showed up, I was reminded of Mei Chaofeng from LotCH, as they both fulfilled the "scary female villain" role.
Li Mochou had a personal connection to Xiao Longnv as she was her martial sister, but was banished early on and thus didn't learn some of the skills that Xiao Longnv did. In addition, the rules of her sect conditioned Li Mochou to be more conservative when it came to sexual and romantic relationships, so she was sensitive to men who got too close.
Li Mochou was also very selfish. She had sacrificed her own disciple Hong Lingbo to stop herself from falling into the flowers in the Passionless Valley, but I think she ended up being poisoned anyway and sought death as the pain was too much.
Granny Sun
Granny Sun was tasked with taking care of Xiao Longnv from a young age, including her martial arts education. Granny Sun had pitied Yang Guo and made Xiao Longnv promise to take care of him after her death.
Lu family
Cheng Ying
Cheng Ying was one of the two girls who survived the massacre by Li Mochou in the beginning of the book. She was eventually saved by Huang Yaoshi and was thus technically Huang Rong's martial sister. She was portrayed to be the calmer of the two cousins. She also crushed on Yang Guo, but like all of his other crushes, figured that he was madly in love with Xiao Longnv. She eventually became Yang Guo's sworn sister right before the timeskip.
Lu Wushuang
Lu Wushuang was Cheng Ying's cousin, and the other girl who survived the massacre. However, she was taken by Li Mochou and treated poorly throughout her life. Lu Wushuang first met Yang Guo the first time he was looking for Xiao Longnv and they developed a bantering relationship (well, it was more like Yang Guo bothering her and her getting annoyed). Like Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang also liked Yang Guo but gave up on him. She also became Yang Guo's sworn sister before the timeskip.
Quanzhen Sect
Zhao Zhijing
Zhao Zhijing was first tasked with becoming Yang Guo's teacher when he was first brought to Quanzhen. However, he was a terrible teacher and didn't teach Yang Guo a single thing.
Zhao Zhijing had intended to usurp the leadership position in the Quanzhen sect with the help of the Mongols, but his plan didn't work out, and he was killed.
Yin Zhiping
Yin Zhiping was a side character in LotCH, just popping up when the Quanzhen sect needed an extra person. However, he was extra scummy in this book. He'd been lusting after Xiao Longnv for a long time. When Zhou Botong was teaching Yang Guo something and didn't want Xiao Longnv to bother them, he pressed on her acupoints so she couldn't move. Yin Zhiping took advantage of her not moving and having blocked vision (something was covering her face) and raped her.
Yin Zhiping knew he should rot in hell for taking advantage of Xiao Longnv. He was basically ready to die for her as she was understandably very angry with him, and he does. Xiao Longnv did kind of forgive him, but I'm not going to put too much weight in that "forgiveness."
Dali Kingdom
Liu Ying
Liu Ying made an appearance again when she bumped into Yang Guo and Guo Xiang as they needed live foxes to save one of the Shi brothers.
As Qiu Qianren lay dying, Yang Guo and Guo Xiang helped Reverend Yideng fetch Zhou Botong to come to them so that there could be a big reconciliation.
Shaolin Sect
Jueyuan and Zhang Junbao showed up very briefly at the end of the book. They showed up so suddenly that I had doubts whether I was really reading the end of the book. Zhang Junbao changed his name to Zhang Sanfeng and founds the Wudan sect later. I believe he's an ancestor of Zhang Wuji (the protagonist of Heaven Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre).
Guo Xiang's friends
Ghosts of the Western Mountain Cave
They helped Guo Xiang find the Divine Eagle Hero aka Yang Guo and later remained her friends.
Five Shi Brothers
They were fighting with the Ghosts of the Western Mountains when Guo Xiang and Yang Guo intervened.
Others
Qiu Qianren
Between LotCH and RotCH, Qiu Qianren became a monk under Reverend Yideng's tutelage, and renamed himself Ci'en. During the book, he was shown to struggle between the revenge and grudges of his past life, and maintaining eternal peace and being rid of mortal feelings.
In the end, he was forgiven by Yinggu for killing his son and died.
Themes
Patriotism
Though patriotism is still a big theme in this book, it was not as prominent as it was in LotCH because Yang Guo himself was not closely acquainted with any major authority figures and he himself did not formally fight as a part of any side.
As the Divine Eagle Hero, he still did deeds on behalf of the Song Empire and was recognized as a patriot, but he was still more of a rogue vigilante than an actual agent of the Song.
Overall
This was a more enjoyable read than LotCH, but I don't think that one could read RotCH without having read LotCH. The fan translation I was reading was okay, but was still very amateur. I'm going to take a short break to read another book and then finally get to finishing this trilogy with Heaven Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre.