The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 18 – Part 6

Most of the onlookers knew Jingxuan and knew she was one of the finest fighters under Miejue Shitai. How could she be so useless, to be thrown dozens of feet by this ragged-clad youth in a single move? If one said she bore an empty reputation, that was not so, for just now when she fought the Sharp Gold Banner her swordsmanship had been fierce and every man had seen it. Could it be that one could not judge a man by his appearance, and this tattered youth possessed peerless martial arts?

Miejue Shitai was also secretly alarmed. What sort of man is this youth? I captured him days ago and never paid him heed. It turns out that a true man does not reveal his appearance, and he is in fact a remarkable person. Even I could not throw Jingxuan so far as that. In this present age, I fear only that old Daoist Zhang Sanfeng, with a hundred years of neigong¹ cultivation, could possess such power. Miejue Shitai had a nature like ginger and cinnamon, growing fiercer with age. Though she did not underestimate Zhang Wuji, she felt not the slightest fear. She looked him up and down with sidelong eyes.

At this time Zhang Wuji was busy staunching the blood and binding the wounds of the Sharp Gold Banner’s men. His technique was supremely skilful. He extended his fingers and sealed several acupoints² on each man, and the bleeding from their severed arms immediately lessened. Among the onlookers were many skilled in healing and acupoint-sealing, but the methods he employed made every man feel himself inferior. As for the strange acupoints he sealed, those were beyond anyone’s knowledge. The Vice Banner Chief Wu Jingcao said, “Many thanks, young xia³ for your righteous aid. May I ask your honourable name?” Zhang Wuji said, “My surname is Zeng, and my name is Aniu.”

Miejue Shitai said coldly, “Turn around, you wretched boy, and receive three strokes from my jian.⁴”

Zhang Wuji said, “I beg your pardon. Please wait a moment, Shitai. Saving lives comes first.” Only when he had finished binding the last severed arm did he turn around. He clasped his fists and said, “Miejue Shitai, I am no match for you, and I have no wish to fight you. I only hope both sides will cease this battle and let go of the grudges of the past.” When he spoke the words “both sides cease battle”, his tone was most earnest. The two sides he had in mind were his dead parents: on one side his father’s Wudang Order, a renowned orthodox faction, and on the other his mother’s Tianying Order, a demonic order of demons and outsiders.⁵

Miejue Shitai said, “Ha! At the word of a stinking boy like you, we are to cease battle? Are you the supreme lord of the wulin?” Zhang Wuji’s mind stirred. He asked, “May I ask, what if one were the supreme lord of the wulin?” Miejue Shitai said, “Even with the Dragon-Slaying Dao⁶ in hand, he would first have to contend with my Heavenly Jian.⁷ Only when he has truly become the supreme lord of the wulin may he issue commands.” The Emei disciples heard their shifu⁸ mock Zhang Wuji and all laughed. Many from other schools joined in the mockery.

Given Zhang Wuji’s age and station, to speak of ceasing battle was far beyond his due. He heard their laughter and his face flushed crimson at once. But he could not help saying, “Why must you kill so many? Every man has parents, wife, and children. When you kill them, the children in their homes will be left lonely and orphaned, bullied and oppressed. You are a woman who has left the world. I beg you, show great compassion.” He was not skilled in speech, but when he thought of his own life his words came out sincere. These few words were so earnest that everyone who heard them felt moved.

Miejue Shitai’s expression was wooden. She said icily, “You wretched boy, do I need you to lecture me? You boast of your profound neili⁹ and talk big here. Very well, if you can receive three palms from me, I will let these men go.” Zhang Wuji bowed and said, “My martial arts are low and meagre. I cannot even dodge one move from your disciple, let alone from you, Shitai. I dare not fight you. I only beg you to show compassion and regard Heaven’s virtue of preserving life.”

Wu Jingcao cried aloud, “Young master Zeng, there is no need to say more to this old thieving nun. We would rather all die at the old thieving nun’s hands. Why should we need her false magnanimity?” Miejue Shitai looked at Zhang Wuji sideways and asked, “Who is your shifu?”

Zhang Wuji thought, Though Father and Godfather both taught me martial arts, neither is my shifu. He said, “I have no shifu.” When these words came out, everyone was greatly surprised. They had thought that since he had thrown Jingxuan in a single move, he must be the disciple of a great master, and each had harboured some reserve in his heart. Who knew he would say he had no shifu? Among the men of the wulin, none held the way of the shifu in higher regard. To be unwilling to reveal one’s shifu’s name was common enough, but none dared claim to have no shifu when he had one. If he said he had no shifu, then truly he had none.

Miejue Shitai spoke no more with him. She said, “Receive the move!” Her right hand flexed and extended, and she struck out casually.

Given the situation, Zhang Wuji could not but receive it. He dared not be careless. He thrust out both palms together, using both hands to receive her single palm at once. Unexpectedly, Miejue Shitai’s palm suddenly dipped low, like a fish infinitely slippery and incomparably swift, and slid beneath his two palms. With a pop, it struck his chest.

Startled, Zhang Wuji’s Nine Yang Divine Skill¹⁰ stirred of its own accord to protect his body, raising a defence against the incoming palm force. Just as the two great neili forces were about to meet but had not yet collided, Miejue Shitai’s palm force suddenly vanished without trace. Zhang Wuji was dazed. When he raised his head to look at her, suddenly his chest felt as though it had been struck by an iron hammer. He could not stand firm. He tumbled backwards, falling twice head over heels. With a wail, he spat a mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed to the ground, like a pile of soft mud.

Miejue Shitai’s palm force thus swallowed and spat, flickered and shifted. Though she had struck only one palm, she had divided it into sequence: first drawing aside the enemy’s neili, then striking again with renewed force. This was truly a refinement of the most profound cultivation in internal cultivation. Among the onlookers, those with deep martial skill recognised the marvel of this palm and could not help crying out in admiration.

Zhu’er was greatly alarmed. She rushed to Zhang Wuji’s side and reached out to help him up, but her legs and knees were numb and weak, and she fell again. Though Zhang Wuji had unsealed her acupoints, the flow of her blood had not yet resumed. Seeing him injured, in her anxiety she had run out to save him. But after a moment she could not stand and cried, “Brother Aniu, you… you…”

Zhang Wuji felt hot blood surging in his chest. He shook his hand and said, “I won’t die.” Slowly he climbed to his feet. He heard Miejue Shitai say to three women disciples, “Cut off the right arms of all these fiends.” The three women disciples answered, “Yes!” They advanced with jian towards the men of the Sharp Gold Banner. Zhang Wuji hurriedly said, “You… you said if I received your three palms, you would let them go. I… I have taken one palm. There are… there are two more.”

With that single palm, Miejue Shitai had already tested his neigong and found it upright and profound, by no means of the demonic or heretical path, and indeed quite similar to her own learning. Seeing that though he protected the Order’s followers he was not in truth one of them, she said, “Young man, do not meddle in affairs that do not concern you. The distinction between orthodox and demonic should be clear and plain. I used only three-tenths of my strength in that palm. Do you know?”

Zhang Wuji knew that with her dignity as zhangmen¹¹ of a great school, she would not lie. When she said she had used only three-tenths of her strength, then truly she had used only three-tenths. But no matter how hard the remaining two palms might be to endure, he could not preserve his own life while watching the men of the Sharp Gold Banner be slaughtered before his eyes. He said, “I know my own weakness. I will risk my life to receive… to receive two more palms from Shitai.”

Wu Jingcao cried aloud, “Young master Zeng, we are deeply grateful for your great virtue! Your heroism and righteousness move every man here. But you must not endure the remaining two palms!”

Miejue Shitai saw Zhu’er lying beside Zhang Wuji and found her a hindrance. Her left sleeve fluttered and swept Zhu’er’s body up, hurling her backwards. Zhou Zhiruo¹² stepped forward and caught her, lowering her gently to the ground. Zhu’er said anxiously, “Sister Zhou, quickly persuade him not to endure those two more palms. He will listen to what you say.” Zhou Zhiruo said in surprise, “Why would he listen to me?” Zhu’er said, “He likes you very much in his heart. Don’t you know?” Zhou Zhiruo’s face flushed crimson. She spat, “How could that be?”

They heard Miejue Shitai say in a clear voice, “Since you insist on playing the hero and brave man, you seek your own death. Do not blame me.” Her right hand rose and the wind whistled as it struck straight at Zhang Wuji’s chest.

This time Zhang Wuji dared not extend his palms to resist. He turned his body sideways, meaning to dodge her palm force. But Miejue Shitai’s right arm bent sideways in a sudden turn, and her palm actually came across from an impossible angle. With a crack, it struck his back. His body flew flat through the air like a bundle of straw and fell heavily, lying motionless in the sand, seemingly dead. Miejue Shitai’s technique was incomparably exquisite. Normally the onlookers would have cried out in admiration, but everyone could not help secretly admiring Zhang Wuji’s chivalrous heart. Seeing him meet such a miserable fate, even some Emei disciples cried out and sighed. Not a single person cheered.

Zhu’er said, “Sister Zhou, I beg you, go quickly and see how badly he is hurt.” Zhou Zhiruo’s heart beat wildly. Hearing Zhu’er’s earnest pleading, she had a mind to go and look. But before so many eyes, how could an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl like herself dare to go see to a young man’s injuries? Moreover, the one who had hurt him was her own shifu. To go over, though not an open rebellion against the shimen,¹³ would still be a great disrespect to her shifu. So she stepped forward, then stepped back again.

By now daylight was bright and the sun shone brilliantly. After a moment, they saw Zhang Wuji’s back stir slightly. He struggled and slowly sat up, but when he propped himself on his elbows to a height of a foot or so, suddenly he could not support himself. A great mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out and he fell back down. He was dazed and muddled. He wished only to lie still without moving, but he still remembered that one palm remained untaken, and the lives of the Sharp Gold Banner’s men could not yet be saved.

He drew a deep breath and finally forced himself upright. His body trembled and he might fall again at any moment. Everyone held their breath and watched. Though several hundred people surrounded the place, it was so quiet that the fall of a needle could be heard.

Footnotes

1. 内功 – nèigōng. Internal cultivation, the cultivation of neili through meditation and breathing exercises. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 穴 – xué. Acupoints. Points on the body’s meridians through which qi flows; can be sealed or struck in martial arts. ↩

3. 侠 – xiá. A martial artist who upholds justice and protects the weak. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 剑 – jiàn. A straight, double-edged sword. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 妖邪 – yāoxié. Fiends. The orthodox schools’ term for the unrighteous and demonic. ↩

6. 屠龙刀 – Tú Lóng Dāo. The Dragon-Slaying Dao; the name’s literal sense is ‘dragon-slaying’. One of the two supreme weapons of the jianghu, forged with the Heavenly Jian from meteoric iron. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 倚天剑 – Yǐtiān Jiàn. The Heavenly Jian; the name’s literal sense is ‘heaven-reliant’. One of the two supreme weapons of the jianghu, forged with the Dragon-Slaying Dao from meteoric iron. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 师父 – shīfù. Teacher and lineage father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force, the kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 九阳神功 – Jiǔyáng Shéngōng. Literally Nine Yang Divine Skill. A legendary internal cultivation method emphasising pure yang energy, capable of granting extraordinary martial prowess. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. The head of a school or faction. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 周芷若 – Zhōu Zhĭruò. A disciple of the Emei Order and later zhangmen. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 师门 – shīmén. The house of one’s shifu: the master, the fellow disciples, and the rules and obligations binding them. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩