Mandarin Duck Blades – Part 4

Seeing the situation turning unfavourable, Xiaoyaozi advanced with his dry pipe raised to flank her. His pipe was made of exquisite iron and he wielded it with technique of a judge’s brush strokes. He struck to seal and strike her acupoints.¹ However, he was not very accurate when identifying the acupoints, missing by a hair’s breadth but erring by inches.²

The young girl was amused and exposed an opening on purpose, allowing him to tap on her left leg with his pipe. She felt a slight sting and exclaimed, “Feeble fellow, what acupoint did you hit?”

Xiaoyaozi said, “This is the Zhongdu point.³ Striking it causes numbness”

The maiden laughed, “This isn’t the Zhongdu point. You’re off by two inches to the left.”

Xiaoyaozi was taken aback. He said, “Off to the left? It can’t be.”

Raising the pipe, he prepared to strike again. The young woman slashed downwards and knocked his pipe to the ground. Transferring both daos to her right hand, she grabbed his collar with her left hand. At a gentle tap of the horse’s flank with the tips of her feet, the horse let out a long neigh and shot out of the woods.

With her seizing him by the nape of his neck, Xiaoyaozi found his whole body paralysed and his limbs went limp. He could only surrender and allowed himself to be captured. The remaining three of the Four Xias of Taiyue cried out, “The wind is rising! The wind is rising!”⁴

They sprinted at a frantic speed in pursuit.

The horse galloped covered a considerable distance in the blink of an eye. As she held Xiaoyaozi, his feet dragged along the ground to the point of bleeding. He said, “You seized my Fengchi point.⁵ That’s where the Foot Lesser Yang⁶ and Yang Link⁷ Meridian meet. I naturally can’t move and it isn’t surprising. There’s no shame in defeat under such circumstances. There is still honour in defeat.”

The maiden chuckled and reined in her mount before tossing him to the ground. She said, “You are right about your own acupoints!”

Then, she let out a cold laugh and raised her blade against his neck and exclaimed, “You disrespected me, so I must kill you!”

Xiaoyaozi sighed, “You are wrong! This old man is over fifty years old, yet remains a virgin. I have never been disrespectful to maidens or madams in my life. If you truly must kill me, best cut at my Tianzhu point⁸ for a swift end to avoid unnecessary pain!”

The young woman could not help but laugh. She thought to herself, Even when he was facing death, this feeble fellow is still preoccupied with acupoints. I’ll scare him a little more and see what happens.

She pressed the edge of her blade between the Tianzhu and Fengchi points on his neck and said, “So, that’s right here.”

Xiaoyaozi cried out, “No, no! You got it wrong, lass. One and a half inch higher…”

The three others arrived along the path and shouted in desperation, “Kill the three of us as well, miss …”

It was Chang Changfeng and the other two Xias. The maiden said, “Why seeking your own deaths?”

Gai Yiming said, “We the Four Xias of Taiyue are sworn to brotherhood. Though we may not be born on the same day, we hope to meet our end together.⁹ If you kill our big brother, then my brothers and I refuse to live without him. Please kill us all. Any who frowns is not a hero!”

Saying that, he walked to Xiaoyaozi’s side and stood tall and awaited execution with his neck bared.

The young woman raised her dao in mid-air, poised to strike. Gai Yiming flashed a smile without flinching. The maiden said, “Fine! The four of you might be mediocre in martial arts but your loyalty makes you heroes. I’ll spare you.”

Saying that, she sheathed her blade. The four were overjoyed and expressed their profound gratitude. Gai Yiming said, “What is your esteemed name? We the Four Xias of Taiyue will forever remember it and repay your kindness of sparing our lives.”

Hearing him still referring to themselves as the Four Xias of Taiyue without any trace of shame, the young woman could not help but chuckle and said, “You need not ask for my name. Instead, I want to ask why did you try to rob me of my mount?”

Gai Yiming¹⁰ said, “The tenth day of the third month this year marks the fiftieth birthday of the Daxia¹¹ from Jinyang,¹² Xiao Banhe¹³…”

Upon hearing the name Xiao Banhe, the young woman paused slightly and asked, “You know Old Hero Xiao?”

Gai Yiming said, “We don’t know Old Hero Xiao personally, but we’ve long admired his renown, so we’ve known him in spirit for a long time and plan to visit him on his fiftieth birthday to offer pay our respects.¹⁴ It shames me to say that we brothers are lacking a gift, so it is improper for us to show up. Hence… well… so… this…”

The young woman laughed and said, “You wanted to rob my mount as a gift. Hmm, this is easy.”

As she said that, she pulled a golden hairpin from her head and continued, “Take this golden hairpin. The pearl on it is very valuable. Old hero Xiao will definitely be pleased that you present it as a gift.”

With that, she tugged at the reins and her horse darted off, galloping into the distance.

Gai Yiming held the hairpin and looked at the lustrous sheen of the large, round pearl. Although the four xias¹⁵ were not knowledgeable enough to determine its value, they could tell that it was a rare treasure. The four xias gazed at the pearl in awe, filled with immense joy. Xiaoyaozi¹⁶ said, “This lass is generous and forthright. She’s truly a kindred spirit.”

“Indeed, what a fine female xia! Ouch!” Chang Changfeng exclaimed as the toe that had been struck by the tombstone throbbed with pain.

Gai Yiming said, “Big brother, your insights are profound and your words sensible.”

★★★

The maiden sat in a small guest room at the Fen’an Inn¹⁷ in the town of Guanshui.¹⁸ There was a petite flask of wine on the table, filled with the fenjiu¹⁹ famed across the lands. Guanshui was in the southwest of Jinzhou,²⁰ between the counties of Linfen²¹ and Hongdong,²² and was where fenjiu was made. However, one sip alone made her mouth numb and painful from the spiciness.

The wine was an unpleasant drink. Why did Father love it so much? Father often said, “Girls are not allowed to drink wine.”

While she obeyed her father at home, she had to enjoy a flask of fenjiu now that she had sneaked out on her own. However, it was no easy feat to down the whole flask. She took another large gulp. Feeling her face grow warm, she felt her cheek and was surprised to find it hot to the touch.

The escort guards in the room next door were downing one cup after another as they toasted each other. Were they not bothered by the spiciness? A deep voice called out, “Waiter, bring another three pounds!”

Hearing that, the young woman shook her head. Another voice said, “Brother Zhang, it’s better to be cautious during this trip. Go easy on the drinks! As the jianghu saying goes, ‘By being cautious with both hands and mouth, one can hide everywhere.’ After we reach Beijing, we can drink to our hearts’ content.”

The former laughed and said, “Escort Chief, I think you’re being too cautious. Those four bandits merely boasted about being the Four Xias of Taiyue²³ and you got quite a scare… hehe… waiter, hurry and bring the wine.”

The young woman could not help but chuckle upon hearing the title. It seemed like this group of escorts had also fought with the Four Xias of Taiyue. The Escort Chief said, “What do I have to fear? You have no idea the heavy burden I bear. I don’t even worry about the hundred-tael worth of salt transported. Hmph, it’s not appropriate to discuss the details right now. You’ll know once we arrive in Beijing.”

Escort Zhang laughed and said, “Right, right! I have no idea. I have no idea. Hehe, the Mandarin Duck Blades,²⁴ eh, Mandarin Duck Blades!”

The words Mandarin Duck Blades made the maiden’s heart skipped a beat. She pressed her ear against the wall to listen more closely, yet the adjacent room had fallen into complete silence. The young woman’s heart stirred. She slipped out from the door and crept under the window where the escorts were.

The Escort Chief said, “How do you know? Who leaked the word? Brother Zhang, this is no laughing matter.”

He lowered his voice, but his tone was extremely solemn. Escort Zhang said in a nonchalant manner, “Who among the brothers here don’t know? Who isn’t aware? Only you alone think that it’s some incredible secret.”

Escort Chief Zhou’s voice trembled as he asked hastily, “By whose lips was this secret spoken?”

Escort Zhang said, “Haha, who else could it be? It was you.”

Escort Chief Zhou grew even more anxious and hastily said, “When did I say it? Brother Zhang, things between us brothers can’t be considered settled till you clear things up today. I have always treated you well…”

Another person interjected, “Escort Chief, don’t get worked up. Brother Zhang speaks the truth. You said it yourself.”

Escort Chief Zhou said, “Me? Me? Why would I?”

The person said, “Once the convoy left Xi’an,²⁵ you started talking in your sleep every night. You’d toss and turn while repeating, ‘Mandarin Duck Blades! Mandarin Duck Blades! Nothing must go wrong during this trip to Beijing. Once I get the Mandarin Duck Blades, I’ll be unmatched in the whole realm…’”

Zhou Weixin so shocked and ashamed that he was unable to utter a word. He closely guarded this crucial secret and his mind was fixated on the Mandarin Duck Blades all day. Thoughts that linger in the day, dreams whisper in the night. Little did he expect he would leak the secret in his sleep due to his preoccupation with it.

He bowed deeply at each escort present and whispered, “Please don’t mention the words ‘Mandarin Duck Blades’ again. From tonight onwards, I will sleep with my mouth wrapped in cloth.”

Hearing these words, the young woman outside the window was overjoyed. She thought, One can wear out iron shoes searching for something in vain, only to acquire it by accident with no effort. This escort is actually in possession of the Mandarin Duck Blades. I wonder what Father would say if I’ll stole them.

The young woman was Xiao Zhonghui,²⁶ and her father was the renowned xia, Xiao Banhe of Jinyang.

Xiao Banhe’s name was famed through the lands. He was reputable and influential in the jianghu and had a wide network of contacts. He received news last month that the pair of Mandarin Duck Blades lost in the wulin²⁷ for years had resurfaced in the jianghu, and fell into the hands of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Viceroy²⁸ Liu Yuyi.²⁹

The blades bore great significance for Xiao Banhe, and he must obtain it. After careful consideration, he anticipated Liu Yuyi to transport the precious daos³⁰ to the capital as tribute to the Emperor. Rather than rushing to seize them from the heavily guarded and defensible location, it was more feasible to intercept it en route.

Unbeknownst to them, Liu Yuyi was exceptionally cunning. As soon as the precious daos came into his possession, he cleverly orchestrated a complex web of deceptions, deploying impostor officials and fake tribute convoys. He dispatched these decoys repeatedly, ensnaring ambitious heroes in the jianghu who coveted the swords, leading them into consecutive traps and whittled their ranks in the process.

Xiao Banhe remembered that his fiftieth birthday was approaching, thus he sent hero’s invitations³¹ to the brave from the provinces of Qin,³² Jin,³³ Ji,³⁴ and Lu³⁵ to join him in a toast of birthday wine. However, within some of these invitations was a private note urging the recipients to do their utmost to seize the treasured daos.

Of course, if the invitees were not his friends whose character and background he knew well and trusted for their loyalty and courage, the invitations did not include the secret message. Otherwise, if word got out, it would alert the enemy. They would end up not only unable to seize the swords, but also endangering the lives of his friends.

As soon as Xiao Zhonghui heard her father mention the pair of precious daos, she was eager to take up the challenge. When Xiao Banhe dispatched his disciples to distribute the hero’s invitation far and wide, she wanted to go along. When Xiao Banhe sent men to prepare an ambush along the Shaanxi road, her desire intensified. However, Xiao Banhe shook his head each time and said, “Out of the question!”

She pleaded desperately and Xiao Banhe finally said. “Go ask your First Mother. Go ask your mother.”

Xiao Banhe had two wives. His first wife was Madam Yuan, and the second wife Madam Yang. Madam Yang was Zhonghui’s biological mother, but Madam Yuan doted on her and treated her like she was Yuan’s own blood. If Madam Yang forbade her from going, Zhonghui could still feign petulence and insist all day on going. However, once Madam Yuan refused, Zhonghui dared not argue. Madam Yuan was very kind to her, but there was an authority in her demeanour. Since young, she dared not oppose her First Mother’s word even in the slightest.

Footnotes

1. 穴道 – xuédào. Specific points on the body that can be struck to disable movement or cause various effects. These points are used in both traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. An idiom that means a minimal deviation resulted in wide divergence. ↩

3. 中渎穴 – zhōngdù xuè. Middle Ditch point in the Gallbladder Meridian. See Wikipedia. ↩

4. 风紧 – fēngjǐn. Literally the wind is rising. A phrase is often used metaphorically to indicate that a situation is becoming tense or dangerous. ↩

5. 风池穴 – fēngchí xuè. Located at the back of the neck, at the base of the skull. Also known as the Wind Pool point. It is part of the Gallbladder Meridian. See Wikipedia. ↩

6. 足少阳脉 – zúshàoyáng mài. One of the Twelve Primary Meridians. Also known as the Gallbladder Meridian because of its association with the gallbladder organ system. It runs along the side of the body, from the head down to the feet. See Wikipedia. ↩

7. 阳维脉 – yángwēi mài. One of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Unlike the twelve primary meridians that are each associated with a specific organ, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians serve as reservoirs of qi and blood, providing additional connections between the primary meridians and helping to regulate the body’s qi flow. See Wikipedia. ↩

8. 天柱穴 – tiānzhù xué. Located at the back of the neck on either side of the spine. Also known as the Upper Pillar point. It is part of the Bladder Meridian. The Tianzhu point is one of the acupuncture points located near the base of the skull. It is believed to be a critical point for instant incapacitation or death if struck with precision. See Wikipedia. ↩

9. This is a popular phrase from the famous Peach Garden oath from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It literally means we seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. We merely hope to die on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. See Wikipedia. ↩

10. 盖一鸣 – Gài Yīmíng. ↩

11. 大侠 – dàxiá. A title of great respect in the martial world, denoting someone of exceptional martial prowess who upholds justice and righteousness. ↩

12. 晋阳 – Jīnyáng. Present day Taiyuan in Shanxi Province. Jinyang was the capital or secondary capital of many dynasties. See Wikipedia. ↩

13. 萧半和 – Xiāo Bànhé. ↩

14. 拜寿 – bàishòu. A traditional Chinese practice of celebrating an elder’s birthday, often involving family gatherings and the presentation of gifts to show respect and well-wishes for longevity. This custom emphasizes filial piety and the respect for elders, central values in Chinese culture. ↩

15. 侠 -Xiá. A person adept in martial arts and conducts in a chivalrous manner. ↩

16. 逍遥子 – Xiāoyáozǐ. Literally the carefree wise man. Zi is a Chinese honorific used for a wise or learnt man. Not to be confused with the Xiaoyaozi from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. ↩

17. 汾安 – Fén’ān. Fen refers to the Fen River in Shanxi Province, while An means peace or stability. ↩

18. 官水镇 – Guānshuǐ zhèn. Near modern day Xiangning County in Shanxi Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

19. 汾酒 – Fénjiǔ. A type of light-aroma baijiu (Chinese white liquor) that originates from Shanxi Province. It is made from made from fermented sorghum, famous for its clear colour and mellow flavour. See Wikipedia. ↩

20. 晋州 – Jìnzhōu. Modern day Linfen City in Shanxi Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

21. 临汾县 – Línfén xiàn. Modern day Linfen City in Shanxi Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

22. 洪洞县 – Hóngdòng xiàn. County in Shanxi Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

23. 太岳 – Tàiyuè. Taiyue is the ancient name of modern day Tianzhu Mountain in Anqing, Anhui. See Wikipedia. ↩

24. 鸳鸯刀 – Yuānyāng dāo. Literally mandarin duck daos. Yuan and yang stand for the male and female mandarin ducks respectively, and are considered to be lifelong couples in traditional Chinese culture. The name means that the daos come in a pair. ↩

25. 西安府 – Xī’ān. Prefecture in central Shaanxi Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

26. 萧中慧 – Xiāo Zhōnghuì. ↩

27. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. It refers to the martial arts community within the jianghu. These are people who practice martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

28. 总督 – Zǒngdū. During the Qing Dynasty, a viceroy was an imperial official that supervised of provincial governors, administering several provinces. See Wikipedia. ↩

29. 刘于义 – Liú Yúyì. ↩

30. 刀 – dāo. A single-edge sword used for slashing and chopping. See Wikipedia. ↩

31. 英雄帖 – yīngxióngtiě. A traditional Chinese proclamation or challenge, often posted in public places or sent to specific individuals, to invite heroes to undertake a quest, contest, or assembly. This practice is rooted in ancient Chinese martial arts culture, where such challenges were a means to resolve disputes, demonstrate martial prowess, or gather allies for a cause. It is emblematic of a call to arms or gathering within the wuxia genre. ↩

32. 秦 – Qín. Abbreviation for the Shaanxi Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

33. 晋 – Jìn. Abbreviation for the Shanxi Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

34. 冀 – Jì. Abbreviation for the Hebei Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

35. 鲁 – Lǔ. Abbreviation for the Shandong Province. See Wikipedia. ↩