The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 14 – Part 7

Zhang Wuji ordered the doors and windows sealed tight, then commanded the servants to fetch realgar, alum, rhubarb, licorice and several other medicinal herbs. He pounded them to a paste, mixed in powdered quicklime, and shaped the compound into a stick no thicker than a finger. This he thrust into the bamboo tube housing the silver-crested blood snake. At once the serpent began to cry out, *hu-hu-hu*. The golden-crested snake in the other tube answered its call. Zhang Wuji pulled the wooden plug from the golden snake's tube. The creature slithered out, coiled anxiously about the tube where its mate was imprisoned, then suddenly darted onto the bed and burrowed beneath Fifth Gu's quilt.

He Taichong started back with a cry of alarm. Zhang Wuji raised a hand to silence him, then gently lifted the quilt. The golden-crested blood snake had its jaws clamped upon the middle toe of Fifth Gu’s left foot. Zhang Wuji’s face brightened. “The lady has been poisoned by the venom of the golden-and-silver blood snakes,” he whispered. “Now these two serpents will draw the poison from her body.” After the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, the snake’s body had swelled grotesquely, grown nearly twice its girth, and the golden crest upon its head shone more brilliantly than before. Zhang Wuji pulled the plug from the silver snake’s tube. The golden snake leapt from the bed, slithered to the tube, and spat a mouthful of black poison-blood to feed its mate.

Zhang Wuji said, “It is done. Twice each day the snakes will draw out the venom, and I shall prescribe a draught to reduce the swelling and restore her strength. Within ten days she will be well.” He Taichong was overjoyed. He led Zhang Wuji to the study and said, “Young brother, your skill borders on the miraculous. I must beg you to explain the principle.” Zhang Wuji said, “According to the books, this pair of golden-and-silver-crested blood snakes ranks forty-seventh among the world’s venomous creatures. They are not considered terribly dangerous, but they possess one peculiar trait: they delight in consuming poison. Arsenic, red arsenic, peacock gall, zhen wine, they are drawn to all such things. In the flower bed beyond the lady’s window grows the Spirit-Gall Orchid. The bulb of that orchid contains deadly poison, and it was this that lured the pair of golden-and-silver blood snakes here.” He Taichong nodded. “So that is the cause.”

Zhang Wuji said, “The golden-and-silver blood snakes always dwell together as a pair, male and female. Just now I fumigated the silver-crested female with realgar and other medicines. The golden-crested male, to save its mate, drew the poison-blood from the lady’s toe and fed it to her. Henceforth, whenever I treat the male with medicine, the female will likewise go to the lady’s toes and draw out the venom. Thus, by repeated application, we shall purge every trace of poison from her body.” As he spoke, a further thought occurred to him: But why did the pair first bite the lady’s toes at all? There must be another reason for that. He could not fathom it, and so said nothing.

That day He Taichong laid a banquet in the inner hall to entertain Zhang Wuji and Yang Buhui. Zhang Wuji reflected that Yang Buhui was Ji Xiaofu’s illegitimate daughter, a fact that would reflect ill upon the Emei Order if spoken plainly. So when He Taichong enquired after her origins, he spoke in vague terms and did not reveal the truth.

Several days passed. Fifth Gu’s swelling diminished, and under Zhang Wuji’s decoctions her complexion regained its former beauty. Her spirits returned, and she could take a little food. Zhang Wuji took his leave, but He Taichong pressed him to stay, fearful lest his beloved concubine suffer a relapse. On the tenth day Fifth Gu’s swelling had vanished entirely.

Fifth Gu prepared a fine banquet and came in person to thank Zhang Wuji, inviting Zhan Chun to join them as guest. Though Fifth Gu’s face still bore traces of her ordeal, her beauty was as before, and He Taichong was well pleased. Zhan Chun, seizing upon her shifu’s good humour, begged him to take Su Xizhi¹ as a disciple. He Taichong laughed heartily. “Chun’er, that scheme of yours, pulling the firewood from beneath the pot, is clever indeed. If I take this lad Su into my school, I shall teach him the Kunlun Two Forms Swordplay in due course. What harm, then, that he peered at my swordwork once before?” Zhan Chun laughed. “Shifu, if this lad Su had not been spying on you, I would never have gone to catch him, and I would never have met House Brother Zhang. It is true that you and Fifth Gu are blessed with great fortune, and that House Brother Zhang’s medical skill is surpassing fine. Yet this lad Su, too, had his small part to play in the matter.”

Fifth Gu said to He Taichong, “You have taken so many disciples, and not one of them has been of any use to you. Only Miss Zhan has performed a great service. If she has set her heart on this lad, he must be worth something. Take him in. He may yet become your most useful disciple.” He Taichong had always obeyed his beloved concubine without question. “Very well,” he said. “I shall take him. But upon one condition.” Fifth Gu asked, “What condition?” He Taichong said with a straight face, “Once he enters my school, he must devote himself to his studies. He is not to harbour any foolish fancy for Chun’er, nor aspire to marry her. That I shall absolutely forbid.”

Zhan Chun’s face flushed crimson and she bowed her head. Fifth Gu gave a soft laugh. “Oh dear! A shifu should set an example, ought he not? You yourself keep three wives and four concubines. Will you forbid your disciples to wed?” He Taichong’s words had been a jest at Zhan Chun’s expense. He laughed and said, “Wine! Wine!”

A young maidservant entered bearing a wooden tray upon which sat a wine pot. She went to each guest in turn and filled their cups. The wine was thick and faintly viscous, golden in colour, its sweet fragrance filling the air. He Taichong said, “Brother Zhang, this is a special product of our mountain. It is brewed from the Amber Honey Pears that grow upon the snow-capped peaks. We call it Amber Honey Pear Wine.² You will find it nowhere else. You must drink several cups.” At the same time he was thinking: How can I coax from him the whereabouts of the Golden-Haired Lion King Xie Xun?³ This matter must be approached with care. I must not be hasty.

Zhang Wuji was not accustomed to drink, but the fragrance of the Amber Honey Pear Wine was so delightful that he raised his cup to his lips. Suddenly the pair of golden-and-silver blood snakes in the bamboo tubes at his breast began to cry out, hu-hu-hu, in low tones. Zhang Wuji’s heart stirred. “This wine must not be drunk!” he cried. Everyone started and set down their cups. Zhang Wuji drew the bamboo tubes from his robe and released the golden-crested blood snake. The creature slithered to the wine cup, stretched its head forward, and drank every last drop. Zhang Wuji sealed it back in its tube and released the silver-crested female. She too drank a full cup. The pair of blood snakes were devoted to one another. If either was released alone, it would never stray far, and both were remarkably docile. But if the pair were released together, not only would they be impossible to recapture, they might even turn savage and strike.

Fifth Gu laughed. “Little brother, your snakes can drink wine. How very amusing.” Zhang Wuji said, “Pray have someone fetch a dog or a cat.” The maidservant responded and turned to go. Zhang Wuji said, “Wait here, Miss. Let someone else fetch the animal.” After a while a servant led in a yellow dog. Zhang Wuji took the cup of wine before He Taichong and poured it into the dog’s mouth. The dog gave several mournful yelps, then blood seeped from its eyes, ears, nose and mouth, and it lay dead.

Fifth Gu trembled from head to foot. “The wine was poisoned… Who… who would try to kill us? Brother Zhang, how did you know?” Zhang Wuji said, “The golden-and-silver blood snakes feed upon poison. When they scented the venom in the wine, they grew excited and began to cry.”

He Taichong’s face turned ashen. He seized the maidservant’s wrist and whispered, “Who told you to bring this poisoned wine?” The girl was half-dead with fright. “I… I didn’t know it was poison… poisoned… I brought it from the main kitchen…” He Taichong said, “Who did you meet between the kitchen and here?” The girl said, “I saw Xingfang in the corridor. She stopped to speak with me, and she uncovered the pot and smelled the wine.” He Taichong, Fifth Gu and Zhan Chun exchanged glances, each face pale with fear. Xingfang⁴ was the personal maidservant of He Taichong’s original wife.

Zhang Wuji said, “Master He, I have hesitated to speak of this matter until now, observing in secret. Consider: why did the pair of golden-and-silver blood snakes first bite Fifth Gu’s toes, so that the snake-venom entered her body? Plainly, Fifth Gu had already ingested a slow-acting poison. Her blood was tainted, and that was what lured the snakes. The person who poisoned Fifth Gu before is, I fear, the same person who poisoned the wine today.” Before He Taichong could reply, the door-curtain was thrown back and a figure strode in. Zhang Wuji felt a sharp pain beneath both nipples; someone had struck his acupoints.⁵ A sharp voice said, “Quite right. I am the one who put the poison there!”

The newcomer was a tall woman of middle years, her hair streaked with grey, her eyes fierce, and between her brows gathered an aura of menace. She said to He Taichong, “I put the venom of the Salivation Centipede⁶ in that wine. What will you do about it?” Fifth Gu’s face went white. She rose to her feet and said with respectful deference, “Madam!”

The tall woman was He Taichong’s original wife, Ban Shuxian, who was also his shijie.⁷

He Taichong saw his wife burst into the room. He said nothing, only gave a low hum. Ban Shuxian said, “I am asking you: I put the poison there. What will you do?” He Taichong said, “If you dislike the lad, that is one thing. But to act so recklessly, without distinguishing right from wrong. If the poisoned wine had passed my lips, what then?”

Ban Shuxian cried in fury, “There is not one good person in this room. It would be a mercy to kill them all and clear the air.” She took the pot of poisoned wine and shook it. It sloshed; more than half remained. She filled a brimming cup and set it before He Taichong. “I had meant to poison all five of you together. But since this little imp has spotted it, I shall spare the lives of four. This cup of poisoned wine, it makes no difference who drinks it. Old ghost, you decide.” With that she drew her jian⁸ with a whisper of steel.

Ban Shuxian was an outstanding figure in the Kunlun School. She was two years older than He Taichong, had entered the school before him, and her martial skill exceeded his by a modest degree. In his youth He Taichong had been handsome and dashing, and won the full affection of this shijie. Their shifu,⁹ Bailu Zi,¹⁰ had perished in a struggle against a master of the Ming Order, and died before he could name a successor. The disciples fought for the position of zhangmen,¹¹ none willing to yield to another. Ban Shuxian threw her weight behind He Taichong, and together their power grew so great that the other disciples, each harbouring private ambitions, could not stand against them. In the end He Taichong succeeded to the zhangmanship. In gratitude for her devotion, he took her to wife. In their youth it mattered little, but as the years passed, Ban Shuxian looked more than a decade older than He Taichong. He took the excuse of having no heir and began taking concubines.

Through decades of her overbearing authority, and He Taichong’s own sense of guilt, he stood in considerable awe of this wife who was also his shijie. Yet afraid though he was, he took concubine after concubine, and with each new wife his fear of Ban Shuxian grew another degree. Now she had set a cup of poisoned wine before him, and he had not a thought of defiance. I certainly shan’t drink it myself, he thought. Fifth Gu and Chun’er cannot drink it either. Zhang Wuji is our saviour. Only this little girl has no kin to speak for her. He rose to his feet and held the cup out to Yang Buhui. “Child, drink this wine.”

Yang Buhui was terrified. She had just watched a great fat yellow dog drink a cup of this same wine and die on the spot. How could she dare take the cup? She cried, weeping, “I won’t drink it! I won’t drink it!” He Taichong seized the collar of her robe and was about to force the wine down her throat. Zhang Wuji said coldly, “I shall drink it instead.” He Taichong’s conscience pricked him. He did not reply.

Ban Shuxian, moved by jealous spite, had poisoned the wine to kill Fifth Gu, He Taichong’s favourite concubine. She had expected to succeed, only to have this boy arrive from the ends of the earth and save the day. She already detested him. She said coldly, “You are a strange one, young imp. You may well carry an antidote. If you drink in this boy’s stead, one cup will not be enough. You must drain the pot.”

Footnotes

1. 苏习之 – Sū Xīzhī. A young man who spied on Zhan Chun practising swordplay and was caught by her. ↩

2. 琥珀蜜梨酒 – Hǔpò Mìlí Jiǔ. Amber Honey Pear Wine. A wine brewed from amber honey pears grown on the snow-capped peaks of the Kunlun Mountains, unique to the Kunlun School. ↩

3. 谢逊 – Xiè Xùn. The Golden-Haired Lion King, one of the Four Guardian Kings of the Ming Order. Zhang Wuji’s sworn father. ↩

4. 杏芳 – Xìngfāng. The personal maidservant of Ban Shuxian, He Taichong’s original wife. ↩

5. 穴道 – xuédào. Acupoints. The vital points on the body through which neili flows; striking them can disable or kill. ↩

6. 涎蜈蚣 – Xián Wúgōng. Literally Salivation Centipede. A venomous creature whose poison was used by Ban Shuxian. ↩

7. 师姐 – shījiě. Female senior fellow disciple. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Jiě means older sister. ↩

8. 剑 – jiàn. A straight, double-edged sword. ↩

9. 师父 – shīfù. Teacher responsible for technical instruction and moral guidance. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. ↩

10. 白鹿子 – Bái Lùzǐ. Literally White Deer Master. The former zhangmen of the Kunlun School, shifu of He Taichong and Ban Shuxian. ↩

11. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. The head of a martial school or order. ↩