The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 15 – Part 8

Zhu Changling rose to his feet and said, “I harbour not the slightest doubt now. Alas! The Shaolin Order, the Emei Order, the Kunlun School, the Kongtong School, which among them is not vast in numbers and superb in martial skill? Young brother, I had earlier resolved to spend this old life of mine, to kill as many of our enemies as I could, one for one, in repayment of the great debt I owe your honoured father. But today the matter of raising an orphan takes precedence, and revenge comes second. Only, this world is vast and trackless. Where can one flee from so great a calamity? Even a hiding place as remote as this has been found out by them. Where else could be more remote still?” He paused, then went on, “Xie daxia lives alone on Ice Fire Island,¹ all these years in solitude. His days there must be bleak indeed. Alas, that great xia showed such loyalty to his benefactor and benefactress that I would give anything to see him just once. I should die content.”

When Zhang Wuji heard him speak of his sworn father living in loneliness on Ice Fire Island, suffering in isolation, he was deeply troubled. A thought struck him and he blurted out, “Uncle Zhu, why don’t we all go to Ice Fire Island together? The days I spent on that island were happier than any. But ever since returning to the Central Plains,² everything I have seen and endured has been either bloodshed and murder, or terror and fear.”

Zhu Changling said, “Young brother, you very much want to go back to Ice Fire Island, don’t you?”

Zhang Wuji hesitated and did not answer. He thought to himself that he had not long to live in any case, and the sea voyage to Ice Fire Island was perilous at best, with no certainty of reaching it. He ought not to drag Zhu Changling’s entire family into so grave a danger. The sea was merciless. The slightest mishap and they would all be swallowed by the great waves.

Zhu Changling took hold of both his hands, gazed into his face and said, “Young brother, we are not strangers. I beg you to speak frankly. Do you wish to return to Ice Fire Island?” His voice was sincerity itself.

At that moment Zhang Wuji’s heart was indeed weary of the treachery of the jianghu,³ and he longed above all to see his sworn father once more before he died. If he could die in his sworn father’s arms, he would want for nothing else in this life. He could not bring himself to dissemble before Zhu Changling, and so he slowly nodded.

Zhu Changling said no more. He took Zhang Wuji by the hand and led him back to the stone chamber. To Yao Qingquan he said, “That man was a spy, beyond all doubt.”

Yao Qingquan nodded. Dagger in hand, he walked into the secret room. A long, piteous cry rang out, and Hu Bao the Stele-Breaking Hand⁴ had met his end. Yao Qingquan emerged from the secret room and closed the iron door behind him. His dagger was slick with blood, and he wiped it casually on the sole of his boot.

Zhu Changling said, “That wretch came here to infiltrate. Our whereabouts must have been exposed. We cannot stay in this place any longer.” He led them all out of the stone cave. They pushed a wooden cart loaded with supplies by hand and travelled some twenty li,⁵ rounded two mountain peaks, and entered a valley, until they came to four or five small huts beside a great tree.

Dawn was near by then. Once inside the huts, Zhang Wuji saw that they were filled with ploughshares, sickles and other farming implements, but that pots, stoves and grain stores were all in perfect order. It was clear that Zhu Changling, in preparation for powerful enemies, had arranged a number of refuge sites near his estate. Zhu Changling, grievously wounded, took to his bed and could not rise. Madam Zhu brought out coarse-cloth gowns, straw sandals and headwraps for everyone to change into. In an instant the lady and young miss of a very wealthy household had been transformed into farmwife and village girl. Their speech and bearing might not have convinced anyone up close, but at a distance no one would be the wiser.

They stayed at the farmstead for several days. Zhu Changling, thanks to an ancestral remedy from Yunnan, recovered swiftly from his wounds, and mercifully their enemies did not pursue them further. Zhang Wuji, with nothing else to do, observed quietly. Each day Yao Qingquan went out to gather news, while Madam Zhu directed her disciples in packing luggage and bundles. Plainly there were plans for a long journey. He understood that Zhu Changling, in repayment of his debt and to flee from enemies, had resolved to take his entire family overseas to Ice Fire Island, and the thought filled him with joy.

That night he lay in bed and thought: if by Heaven’s grace he did not die, and they at last reached Ice Fire Island, and he could spend the rest of his days beside Sister Zhen, who was beautiful as an immortal, the thought made him blush and his heart pound. He thought further: after Uncle Zhu, Second Uncle Yao and his sworn father met, the three of them would become bosom friends, living out their years on the island without a care, fearless of Mongol slaughter and oppression, free from the open assaults and covert ambushes of their enemies in the wulin.⁶ A man’s lot could ask for no more. Lost in these pleasant fancies, he forgot that the cold poison within him meant his time in this world was short. Past midnight he still could not sleep.

He was dozing at last when he heard the plank door push softly open and a figure slip into the room. Zhang Wuji was faintly surprised. Then his nose caught a faint, delicate fragrance, the jasmine⁷ scent Zhu Jiuzhen used to perfume her clothes. His face flushed crimson at once. An indescribable shyness overtook him.

Zhu Jiuzhen tiptoed to the bedside and whispered, “Wuji di, are you asleep?”

Zhang Wuji dared not answer. He kept his eyes tightly shut and pretended to be deep in sleep. After a moment, he felt soft, warm fingers brush against his eyelids.

His heart was a storm of surprise and joy, shyness and fear. All he wanted was for her to leave the room at once. In his heart he revered Zhu Jiuzhen beyond measure. To see her a few times each day was satisfaction enough for him. He had never harboured the slightest improper thought, nor ever entertained the hope of marrying her. Yet here she was, appearing in his room in the middle of the night. How could it not leave him utterly at a loss? Then another thought came to him: Could Sister Zhen have some urgent matter she must tell me in the middle of the night? At that very instant he felt a numbness at the Tanzhong acupoint⁸ on his chest, and one by one his Jianzhen, Shencang, Quchi and Huantiao acupoints were each struck by her finger.⁹

The shock took him quite by surprise. How could he have imagined that Zhu Jiuzhen would come in the dead of night to strike his acupoints? He could only feel chagrin. Sister Zhen must be testing whether I am alert while I sleep. Tomorrow, when she unblocks my acupoints, she will certainly come and laugh at me. If only I had leapt up the moment she entered the room and given her a fright, so she would have nothing to gloat about tomorrow.

He watched her push open the window gently and leap out. Zhang Wuji thought to himself, I will unblock my acupoints quickly, follow her and play a ghost to frighten her. That would be great fun. At once he applied the method of releasing acupoints that Xie Xun had taught him. But Zhu Jiuzhen’s family art of the One Yang Finger¹⁰ was formidable indeed, and it took him well over a shichen¹¹ to free the blocked points. Even that was only because Zhu Jiuzhen’s neili¹² was not yet deep and she had not wished to alert him, striking with the lightest of force. Had her strength been full, no method of releasing acupoints, however subtle, could have freed them within a single shichen. By the time he rose to his feet, hastily pulled on his clothes and leapt from the window, all was still and silent. Of Zhu Jiuzhen there was not a trace.

He stood in the dark, rather deflated. Then a change of heart came over him. Tomorrow Sister Zhen will laugh at me for being useless. Let her laugh. Why must I compete with her? I shall pretend to know nothing at all, and let her seem clever beyond measure. On ordinary days I can barely win a smile from her. If I were to chase after her tonight, she would only be annoyed. With this reasoning he made his peace and felt quite content. It was late spring now. Wildflowers in the valley sent out a sweet fragrance, and since sleep would not come, he strolled at idle pace along a small stream. Snow on the mountainside was melting, and the meltwater ran down the stream, carrying with it now and then a few tiny shards of ice that clinked against each other with a bright, metallic ring.

He had walked for some time when suddenly, from a grove of trees to his left, came a tinkling laugh, unmistakably Zhu Jiuzhen’s voice. Zhang Wuji started slightly. Has Sister Zhen seen me? Then he heard her whisper in a low reprimand, “Cousin, stop that! If you don’t behave I’ll slap your face, so help me.” Following this came several peals of clear, masculine laughter. There was no need to hear more: it was Wei Bi.

Zhang Wuji’s heart gave a violent lurch. He nearly cried. The sweet dream he had been building all day shattered in an instant, and he saw everything with icy clarity. Sister Zhen striking my acupoints, that was no game. She came to meet her cousin in the middle of the night, for fear I should find out. His arms and legs went limp at once. He thought further, I am a homeless pauper of a boy, young in years. In learning, in martial skill, in bearing and looks, in what am I not far behind Young Master Wei? Sister Zhen and he are cousins by blood, a pair made for each other, his talent and her beauty, a match that Heaven itself had made. What right have I, a fool, to be jealous?

He spent some time consoling himself in this way, then sighed softly. Just then he heard footsteps approaching from behind. At the same moment Zhu Jiuzhen and Wei Bi came walking towards him, hand in hand, murmuring and laughing quietly to each other. Zhang Wuji, unwilling to meet them, slipped behind a great tree and hid. He could hear their footsteps drawing nearer from one side. Then suddenly Zhu Jiuzhen cried, “Father! You… you…” Her voice trembled as though she were greatly afraid. The man approaching from the other side was Zhu Changling.

Zhu Changling, seeing his daughter meeting her cousin secretly at night, appeared furious. He snorted, “What are you two doing here?”

Zhu Jiuzhen forced an air of indifference and laughed. “Father, cousin and I haven’t seen each other for so long. He came all this way today. We were just having a chat.”

Zhu Changling said, “You reckless girl, you are far too bold. What if Wuji had found out…”

Zhu Jiuzhen cut in, “I only lightly sealed five of his major acupoints. He is fast asleep at this very moment. I will go back presently and unblock them. He will never know a thing.”

Zhang Wuji thought to himself, Uncle Zhu has seen through my feelings for Sister Zhen too. Because my father was his benefactor, he does not wish to see me hurt or disappointed. The truth is, though I do admire Sister Zhen, I have no other thought of it. Uncle Zhu, you have been truly kind to me.

He heard Zhu Changling say, “Even so, we must be cautious in all things. We cannot let this venture fail at the last step because he spots the flaw.”

Zhu Jiuzhen laughed. “Your daughter understands.”

Wei Bi said, “Uncle, Sister Zhen, I ought to be going. I fear Shifu is waiting for me.”

Zhu Jiuzhen was reluctant to part with him and said, “I will see you on your way.”

Zhu Changling said, “Good. I will come too and consult your shifu once more. This journey we make to Ice Fire Island in the northern sea, everything must be settled without the slightest hitch. We can afford no mistake whatever.” With that, the three of them walked off together to the west.

Footnotes

1. 冰火岛 – Bīnghuǒ Dǎo. Literally Ice Fire Island. A remote volcanic island in the far east where Zhang Cuishan, Yin Susu and Xie Xun were stranded for ten years. ↩

2. 中土 – Zhōngtǔ. The Central Plains; the heartland of Chinese civilisation, as distinct from remote islands and frontier regions. ↩

3. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The 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. ↩

4. 开碑手 – Kāibēi Shǒu. Literally Stele-Breaking Hand. Hu Bao’s martial epithet, denoting his power to shatter stone. A spy of the Kongtong School sent to impersonate Xie Xun. ↩

5. 里 – lǐ. A Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 metres or one-third of a mile. ↩

6. 武林 – wǔlín. The martial forest; the community of martial artists and their factions. ↩

7. 素馨花 – Sùxīn Huā. Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac), whose fragrance was traditionally used to scent clothes and hair. ↩

8. 膻中穴 – Shànzhōng Xué. An acupoint at the centre of the sternum, on the Conception Vessel. One of the vital points exploited in dianxue striking. ↩

9. 肩贞、神藏、曲池、环跳 – Jiānzhēn, Shéncáng, Qūchí, Huántiáo. Acupoints on the shoulder, chest, elbow and hip respectively, all vital points exploited in dianxue striking. ↩

10. 一阳指 – Yīyáng Zhǐ. Literally One Yang Finger. The Dali Duan family’s signature finger technique combining Buddhist principles with devastating striking power. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 时辰 – shíchén. A traditional Chinese unit of time, equal to two hours. The day was divided into twelve shichen. ↩

12. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force. The kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩