The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre Chapter 13 Part 6

Miejue Shitai[^miejue] raised her face to the sky and stood lost in thought a good while, then said, "Xiaofu, come." Without so much as a glance from the corner of her eye, she walked straight into the thatched hut. Ji Xiaofu[^jixiaofu] and the other two followed her in. "Mama!" cried Yang Buhui,[^yangbuhui] and made to follow too.

Ji Xiaofu knew that her shifu had come down from the mountain in person this time to set the school’s house in order, and dear though she had ordinarily been to her, her shifu was stern by nature, and she truly could not tell how she would be dealt with. “Play outside,” she told her daughter, “and do not come in.”

Zhang Wuji¹ thought to himself, That Ding woman is wicked. She is sure to pour poison in her shifu’s ear about Auntie Ji. What happened that night I saw plainly. It was all the doing of this Venom-Handed Wuyan.² If she talks nonsense and turns black to white, I shall step forth and set the matter straight for Auntie Ji. Quietly he circled to the back of the hut, crouched beneath the window, held his breath, and listened.

But within the room all was still, and no one spoke. After a good while, Miejue Shitai said, “How is it the chastity mark³ on your arm is gone? Xiaofu, this is your own affair. Speak of it yourself.” Ji Xiaofu said, choking, “Shifu, I… I…”

“Minjun, you question her,” said Miejue Shitai.

“Yes,” said Ding Minjun.⁴ “Ji-shimei,⁵ what is the third precept of our school?”

“To forswear lewdness and licentious conduct,” said Ji Xiaofu.

“Indeed. And the sixth?”

“To forswear turning one’s heart to outsiders and betraying the school.”

“And how is one who breaks a precept dealt with?”

Ji Xiaofu did not answer her, but said to Miejue Shitai, “Shifu, in this there is a difficulty your disciple truly cannot speak of. It is not at all as Ding-shijie⁶ says.”

“Very well,” said Miejue Shitai. “There are no outsiders here. Tell me the whole of it in detail.”

Ji Xiaofu knew that today she faced a great crisis, and that she must hide not the least thing. “Shifu,” she said, “that year, after we had word of the Tianying Order’s⁷ assembly at Wangpan Island,⁸ you bade the sixteen of us, shixiong and shimei together, go down the mountain and seek out, each apart, the whereabouts of Xie Xun the Golden-Haired Lion King.⁹ Your disciple went west, to Dashu Fort¹⁰ in western Sichuan, and on the road met a middle-aged man in white, some forty years of age. Wherever your disciple went, he followed. Where I put up at an inn, he put up at an inn. Where I stopped to eat, he stopped to eat. At first I paid him no mind, but later, unable to bear it, I rebuked him in words. The man talked like one crazed, and, unable to contain myself, I drew my jian and stabbed at him. He bore no weapon, yet his skill was matchless. In but two or three moves he had taken the long jian from my hand.

“In my fright I fled at once, and the man did not pursue. The next morning I woke in my inn-room to find my jian lying safe and sound by my pillow. Greatly startled, I left the inn, and there the man was upon my heels again. Thinking there was no use in fighting him, I could only reason with him in fair words: that we were neither kin nor acquaintance, strangers to each other, and that men and women should moreover keep apart. To what end did he keep at my heels? I said too that, though my skill was no match for his, our Emei Order¹¹ was not to be trifled with.”

Miejue Shitai gave an “Mm,” as though she thought the words fitly spoken.

Ji Xiaofu went on, “The man smiled and said, ‘Once a person’s martial art is split into schools, it has already fallen to the lower grade. If you will come with me, Miss, I promise to open your eyes and ears anew, to let you know that in martial learning there is a world apart.’”

Miejue Shitai was solitary by nature, her whole life sunk in the study of martial arts, and much cut off from worldly affairs. Hearing Ji Xiaofu report the man’s words, that “once a person’s martial art is split into schools, it has already fallen to the lower grade,” and that he would “let her know there was a world apart in martial learning”, she could not help being greatly drawn. “Then you should have gone with him to see,” she said, “and found out what strange skill he really had.”

Ji Xiaofu flushed. “Shifu, he was a man I did not know. How could your disciple follow him?”

Miejue Shitai came to herself at once. “Ah, true! You should have told him to get far away, and quickly.”

“Your disciple tried every means to shun him,” said Ji Xiaofu, “but could never shake him off, and in the end was taken by him. Aiya, your disciple was unfortunate to meet this karmic bane from a former life…” Here her voice sank lower and lower.

“And then?” asked Miejue Shitai.

Ji Xiaofu said in a low voice, “Forced by his strength, unable to resist, your disciple lost her honour to him. He watched me so closely that I could not even seek death. Some months passed thus, until one day an enemy came to his door seeking him, and your disciple seized the chance to escape. Before long I found myself with child. Not daring to tell you, Shifu, I could only hide away and bear the child in secret.”

“Is this the whole truth?” said Miejue Shitai.

“Ten thousand deaths would not make your disciple dare deceive her shifu.”

Miejue Shitai pondered a moment, then said, “Poor child. Aiya! This was, after all, no fault of yours.”

Hearing in her shifu’s words such great pity for Ji-shimei, Ding Minjun could not help shooting Ji Xiaofu a savage glare.

Miejue Shitai sighed. “And what do you mean to do now?”

Ji Xiaofu said, shedding tears, “By my father’s arranging, your disciple was betrothed to be wife to Sixth Master Yin of Wudang,¹² but since this calamity has befallen me, I beg only that shifu grant your disciple leave to take orders and shave her head as a nun.”

Miejue Shitai shook her head. “That will not do either. Mm, what is the name of the scoundrel who wronged you?”

Ji Xiaofu lowered her head. “His… his surname is Yang, and his given name the single character Xiao.”

Miejue Shitai leapt suddenly to her feet. A flick of her sleeve, a splintering crack, and half a dining-table collapsed beneath her blow. Zhang Wuji, eavesdropping outside, was of course badly startled, and Ji Xiaofu, Ding Minjun, and Bei Jinyi¹³ all changed colour on the instant.

“You say his name is Yang Xiao?”¹⁴ said Miejue Shitai in a stern voice. “The great demon-head of the demonic cult, the one who styles himself the ‘Left Messenger of the Brightness’,¹⁵ that Yang Xiao?”

“He… he… is of the Ming Order,”¹⁶ said Ji Xiaofu, “and seems to hold some rank in it.”

Her face all wrath, Miejue Shitai said, “What Ming Order? That is the demonic cult, that outrages heaven and ruins men and leaves no evil undone. Where… where is he hiding? Is it on the Brightness Peak¹⁷ of the Kunlun Mountains?¹⁸ I will go and find him this instant.”

“He says their Ming Order… “ began Ji Xiaofu.

“The demonic cult!” barked Miejue Shitai.

“Yes,” said Ji Xiaofu. “He says the head altar of their demonic cult was formerly on the Brightness Peak, but in recent years there has been discord within his order, and he found it awkward to dwell on the Brightness Peak any longer, lest it be said he sought to make himself Order Leader.¹⁹ So he withdrew to live in seclusion on Zuowang Peak²⁰ in the Kunlun Mountains, and this he told to your disciple alone. No one on the jianghu²¹ knows of it. Since Shifu asks, your disciple dares not fail to answer. Shifu, this man… is this man an enemy of our school?”

“A hatred deep as the sea!” said Miejue Shitai. “Your shibo²² Guhongzi²³ was vexed to his very death by this great demon-head, Yang Xiao.”

Ji Xiaofu was much afraid, yet she could not help feeling, dimly, a secret pride: her shibo Guhongzi had in his day been a great master famed throughout the land, and yet “he” had been able to vex him to death. She longed to ask the particulars, but dared not open her mouth.

Miejue Shitai raised her face to the sky, seething with hatred, and murmured to herself, “Yang Xiao, Yang Xiao… all these years I never knew where you were, and today at last you fall into my hands…” All at once she turned round. “Very well: that you lost your honour to him, that you shielded Monk Peng,²⁴ that you offended Ding-shijie, deceived your shifu, and reared a child in secret, all this I set aside and forgive. I shall send you to do one thing, and when the great task is accomplished, come back to Emei, and I will pass to you both the mantle and the Heavenly Jian,²⁵ and name you heir to the zhangmen²⁶ of our school.” At these words all were struck with amazement, and Ding Minjun the more, envy and hatred bursting together in her, bitterly resentful that her shifu should be so blind to right and wrong, so perverse in her course.

“Whatever Shifu commands, your disciple will carry out with all her heart and strength,” said Ji Xiaofu. “But as for receiving my revered shifu’s true mantle, your disciple knows her own virtue is flawed and her martial prowess poor, and dares harbour no such presumptuous hope.”

“Come with me,” said Miejue Shitai. She took Ji Xiaofu by the wrist and swept lightly out of the hut, straight up the slope to the left of the valley, and did not stop until they reached a wide and open spot. From afar Zhang Wuji watched: he saw Miejue Shitai stand on the high ground and gaze all about, then draw Ji Xiaofu to her side and speak softly at her ear, and only then did he know that what she meant to say was a secret of the deepest kind, that she feared not only ears beyond the wall, lest someone overhear, but would not even let her two disciples, Ding and Bei, hear it.

Hiding behind the hut, Zhang Wuji dared not show himself. From afar he saw Miejue Shitai speak a while. Ji Xiaofu bowed her head in thought, and at last shook her head, her whole bearing utterly resolved, plainly refusing to obey her shifu’s command. He saw Miejue Shitai raise her left palm to strike, but the palm halted in mid-air and did not fall, hoping, no doubt, that she might yet, at the last, turn her heart around.

Zhang Wuji’s heart pounded wildly. If that palm fell on her head, he thought, she could by no means live. He dared not blink, but gazed fixedly at Ji Xiaofu.

He saw her suddenly drop to both knees, and yet, resolute, shake her head. Miejue Shitai’s palm rose and fell, and struck the crown of her head. Ji Xiaofu’s body did not sway in the least. It toppled sideways to the ground, writhed a few times, and then was still.

Footnotes

1. 张无忌 – Zhāng Wújì. His name meaning “Without Envy” or “No Misgivings.” Son of Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu, and the protagonist of the tale. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 毒手无盐 – dúshǒu Wúyán. “The Venom-Handed Wuyan,” Ding Minjun’s epithet. 无盐 (Wúyán) alludes to Lady Zhongli Chun of Wuyan, a byword for an ugly woman; “venom-handed” marks her cruelty. ↩

3. 守宫砂 – shǒugōng shā. Vermilion mark placed on a maiden’s arm, believed by tradition to remain while she is chaste and to vanish once she lies with a man. ↩

4. 丁敏君 – Dīng Mǐnjūn. Shijie of Ji Xiaofu in the Emei Order, styled the Venom-Handed Wuyan (毒手无盐); 无盐 alludes to the legendary Zhong Wuyan, an ugly but virtuous woman of antiquity. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 师妹 – shīmèi. Female junior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Mèi means younger sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 师姐 – shījiě. Female senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Jiě means older sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 天鹰教 – Tiānyīng Jiào. Tianying Order, founded by Yin Tianzheng the White-Browed Eagle King. 教 here is the order’s own neutral name for itself; “Cult” is the orthodox schools’ derogatory register and is not the sect’s name. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 王盘山 – Wángpán Shān. Wangpan Island, the sea island where the Tianying Order raised the Dragon-Slaying Dao to overawe the wulin some years before. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 谢逊 – Xiè Xùn. His name meaning “Modest” or “Yielding.” His courtesy name Tuisi (退思) meaning “Retreat and Reflect.” One of the Four Dharma Kings of the Ming Order, bearing the epithet the Golden-Haired Lion King. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 大树堡 – Dàshù Bǎo. Dashu Fort, a settlement in western Sichuan; 堡 renders as “Fort.” ↩

11. 峨嵋派 – Éméi Pài. Emei Order, the Buddhist martial order founded by Guo Xiang on Mount Emei; 派 renders as “Order” for its religious character. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 殷梨亭 – Yīn Lítíng. The sixth of the Seven Xias of Wudang, who fell in love with Ji Xiaofu. After her death, his consuming desire for revenge against Yang Xiao drove him to devise this suicidal sword technique. ↩

13. 贝锦仪 – Bèi Jǐnyí. Disciple of the Emei Order, junior to Ji Xiaofu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 杨逍 – Yáng Xiāo. His name meaning “Free and Unfettered.” The Left Messenger of the Brightness in the Ming Order, and Yang Buhui’s father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 光明左使者 – Guāngmíng Zuǒ Shǐzhě. Left Messenger of the Brightness, one of the two foremost emissaries of the Ming Order. ↩

16. 明教 – Míngjiào. Also known as Manichaeism, a dualistic religion of Persian origin that became the backbone of several rebel movements in Chinese history. In the wuxia tradition, it serves as the organising force against the Mongol Yuan dynasty. ↩

17. 光明顶 – Guāngmíng Dǐng. Brightness Peak in the Kunlun Mountains, the head seat of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 昆仑山 – Kūnlún Shān. Kunlun Mountains, a great range in western China. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 教主 – jiàozhǔ. Head of an Order; rendered “Order Leader.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 坐忘峰 – Zuòwàng Fēng. Zuowang Peak in the Kunlun Mountains, where Yang Xiao dwells in seclusion; 坐忘 (“sitting in forgetfulness”) is a Daoist meditative term drawn from the Zhuangzi. ↩

21. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach, holding not only martial artists but the trades that travel with them, including pedlars, physicians, fortune-tellers, entertainers, boatmen, beggars, outlaws and the like. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 师伯 – shībó. Senior lineage uncle. Shixiong or shijie of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Bó means father’s elder brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 孤鸿子 – Gū Hóngzǐ. His name meaning “Lone Wild Goose.” A senior figure of the Emei Order, vexed to death by Yang Xiao. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 彭和尚 – Péng Héshàng. “Monk Peng”; the monk Peng Yingyu of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 倚天剑 – Yǐtiān Jiàn. Heavenly Jian; the name’s literal sense is “heaven-reliant”, preserving 倚 (yǐ, to lean upon). One of the two supreme weapons of the jianghu, forged with the Dragon-Slaying Dao from meteoric iron, and the title weapon of the novel (rendered “Heavenly Sword” in the book’s title). See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

26. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. Literally the one who holds the gate. Head of a martial arts school or order, holding its authority and its transmission. Zhǎng means to take charge of or preside over. Mén means gate, and by extension the school itself. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩