The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 21 – Part 5

Xianyu Tong[^xianyuTong] did not allow him to finish speaking but immediately lunged forward with close-quarters attacks, employing one of the Huashan School's[^huashan] supreme arts, the seventy-two moves of the Eagle-Snake Life-Death Bind.[^yingshesishengbo] He folded his fan and gripped it in his right hand, exposing the sharp fan-handle cast in the shape of a serpent's head. His left hand worked in the manner of Eagle Claw techniques. His right hand's serpent-head struck, poked, and stabbed, whilst his left hand seized, twisted, and hooked. The two hands' movements were entirely different. In truth, he had resorted to a weapon and was no longer fighting with fist and palm alone. This Eagle-Snake Life-Death Bind was a supreme art that the Huashan School had transmitted for over a hundred years. Eagle and serpent forms applied simultaneously, the soaring grace of the goshawk and the nimble swiftness of the venomous snake, manifested within a single move. Swift and ferocious in equal measure.

Yet when force is divided, it weakens. This art, employed against ordinary foes, could indeed render them hard-pressed, defending east while neglecting west. Zhang Wuji had barely parried several moves before he perceived that although his opponent’s techniques were exquisite, the force behind them was insufficient, far inferior to the divine monk Kongxing.¹ He casually deflected and countered, saying in a clear voice, “Zhangmen² Xianyu, I have a matter to ask you. In years past, you were struck by a deadly poison, at death’s door with but one chance in ten. Someone stayed awake for three days and three nights without rest, exhausting all their efforts to cure you, then swore an oath of brotherhood with you, treating you as a brother. Why were you so cruel-hearted as to turn around and kill his sister?” His voice rang clear, and all six factions heard every word.

Xianyu Tong had no answer but opened his mouth and cursed, “Hu…” He intended to curse “nonsense” and argue forcefully with his opponent. He was famed throughout the wulin³ for eloquence and sharp-tongued wit. Hearing Zhang Wuji expose his old wounds, he thought to fabricate a tale, not merely to cover his own moral failure but to slander his opponent in turn. Once Zhang Wuji grew angry and distracted, he could seize the chance to strike a hidden killing blow. Having witnessed Zhang Wuji’s skill surpass even the divine monk Kongxing, he had never expected to defeat him in martial arts from the moment he stepped into the ring.

But no sooner had he uttered the single word “Hu” than an overwhelming palm-force bore down upon his chest. Xianyu Tong’s breath caught in his throat, and the remaining words “…speak nonsense” were swallowed back into his belly. In an instant, he felt the air in his lungs about to be squeezed out by his opponent’s palm-force. Hastily he channelled his neili⁴ inward and struggled to hold on. Yet he heard Zhang Wuji say, crisp and clear: “Indeed, indeed! You remember it was someone surnamed ‘Hu’, so why did you stop after saying ‘Hu’? The young lady of the Hu family was done to death by you most cruelly. All these years, have you felt no remorse?” Xianyu Tong’s suffocation was unbearable, his breath about to cease. He desperately attacked three moves in succession. Zhang Wuji’s palm-force relented. Xianyu Tong felt his chest lighten and hastily drew a long breath, shouting, “Hu…” But having spoken only the single word “Hu,” his opponent’s palm-force bore down upon his chest once more, and his voice was cut off at once.

Zhang Wuji said, “A true man bears responsibility for his own deeds. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Why do you hem and haw, swallowing your words? Did the Butterfly Valley Doctor Immortal⁵ Hu Qingniu save your life all those years ago, yes or no? Was his own flesh-and-blood sister killed by your hand, yes or no?” He did not know how Hu Qingniu’s sister had been done to death and could not speak more plainly. But Xianyu Tong believed his opponent knew every detail of his past conduct, and being unable to force words past his lips, his face grew yet whiter.

The onlookers all knew Xianyu Tong possessed a glib tongue and excelled in debate. Seeing his shamefaced expression now, rendered speechless under stern accusation, they could not help but believe Zhang Wuji’s words. Zhang Wuji’s supreme skill suppressed his breathing, and save for Xianyu Tong himself (like a mute man eating bitter gourd, suffering without being able to speak) others saw only Zhang Wuji waving his palms to deflect Xianyu Tong’s attacks, occasionally striking back. Even the foremost masters of each faction could not perceive the hidden truth. The worthies and disciples of the Huashan School, seeing their zhangmen thus publicly disgraced, cursed by a youth and left without a single word of defence, felt shame beyond measure. Others, who knew Xianyu Tong well for his cunning schemes, supposed he was merely biding his time and would soon unleash some terrible revenge.

Zhang Wuji’s voice rang out again in stern rebuke: “We who walk the jianghu⁶ hold it sacred to repay kindness with kindness and vengeance with vengeance. That Butterfly Valley Doctor Immortal was of the Ming Order.⁷ You received a great debt of gratitude from the Ming Order, yet today you lead your disciples to attack the Ming Order. Someone saved your life, and you killed his kinswoman in return. A creature less than beast, and you still have the face to serve as a faction’s zhangmen!” He cursed to his heart’s content, thinking, If Doctor Hu were here today and heard me speak justice and vengeance for him, it would surely release the resentment long pent in his heart. Now he had cursed enough. Today he could not take the man’s life, but another day he would settle accounts. His palm-force withdrew, and he said, “Since you know your own shame, I shall spare your neck for now.”

Xianyu Tong’s breathing flowed freely once more. He shouted, “Little thief, pure nonsense!” The fan-handle jabbed towards Zhang Wuji’s face, and he immediately leapt aside. Suddenly a sweet fragrance entered Zhang Wuji’s nose, and at once his head grew dizzy. His feet stumbled, the world spinning, golden sparks dancing before his eyes…

Xianyu Tong shouted, “Little thief, let me show you the might of my Huashan School’s supreme art, the Eagle-Snake Life-Death Bind!” With that, he leapt forward, his left hand’s five fingers clawing down towards the Yuanye acupoint⁸ beneath Zhang Wuji’s right armpit. He expected that once this grab landed, Zhang Wuji would have no means of resistance. Yet the instant his fingers touched, it was like grasping the slick skin of a great fish, unable to muster the slightest force.

The disciples of the Huashan School roared their approval: “Today the Eagle-Snake Life-Death Bind shall be famed throughout the world!” “Zhangmen Xianyu of Mount Hua, his divine skill astounds!” “Let this little thief see what genuine martial arts look like!”

Zhang Wuji smiled faintly and blew a breath of air towards Xianyu Tong’s nostrils. Suddenly Xianyu Tong smelled a sweet fragrance, and his head at once grew dizzy. This truly frightened his wits from him. He opened his mouth to call out, but Zhang Wuji’s left hand brushed across the backs of both his knees. Xianyu Tong could not steady himself and fell to the ground, kneeling before Zhang Wuji as if kowtowing and begging for mercy.

This sudden reversal astonished everyone. They had seen Zhang Wuji gravely wounded and tottering, yet in a single instant, Xianyu Tong was kneeling before him. Could he truly wield sorcery?

Zhang Wuji bent down and took the folding fan from Xianyu Tong’s hand. He said in a clear voice, “The Huashan School styles itself a renowned orthodox faction. Truly unexpected that it also possesses the exquisite art of gu-poison and venom. Observe, all of you!” Gently he waved the fan and opened it. On one side was painted the sheer peaks of Mount Hua, a thousand cliffs layered in splendour. He turned it over. On the other side were written six lines of Guo Pu’s Ode to Mount Hua:⁹

“Mount Hua, spirit-steep,
carved sheer on four sides.
There a divine maiden
dips jade dew.
Who rides with her there?
Dragon carriages, cloud garments.

Zhang Wuji folded the fan and said, “Who would have thought that within this elegant fan lay concealed a base and venomous contrivance?” He walked to a flowering tree and waved the fan-handle towards the blossoms. In moments, the petals withered and fell, and the leaves gradually turned pale yellow.

All present were appalled, thinking, What poison has Xianyu Tong hidden in this fan, that it proves so terrible?

They heard Xianyu Tong, prostrate on the ground, shrieking like a slaughtered pig. His voice was piteous and piercing, striking at the heart. Long cries of “Ah…ah…” rang out, as though someone drove a sharp blade into him stroke by stroke. Normally, with his profound martial cultivation, even if a blade were truly laid to his body, he could endure the pain and would never thus publicly lose all dignity with such cries. Each shriek scraped another layer of face from the Huashan School’s company.

After several such cries, he shouted, “Kill…kill me quickly…strike me dead…ah…ah…” Zhang Wuji said, “I indeed have a method to heal you, but I do not know what poison is hidden in your fan. Without knowing the poison’s source, there is no remedy.” Xianyu Tong cried, “This…this is golden silkworm…golden silkworm gu-poison…quick…quick, kill me…ah…ah…”

When the assembled heard the four words “golden silkworm gu-poison,”¹⁰ the younger ones, not knowing its terror, thought little of it. But the elders of every faction changed colour. Some upright men loudly voiced their condemnation. This golden silkworm gu-poison was the most terrible of all the world’s venoms, formless and colourless. The poisoned suffered as though a thousand silkworms gnawed simultaneously upon their body, pain beyond all bearing, past all description. Those in the wulin who spoke of it gnashed their teeth in hatred. This gu-poison left no trace. Regardless of invincible skill, even a woman or child with no martial arts could fall victim to its deadly work. Yet the creature was rare, and each person had only heard the poison’s name. Now for the first time, they witnessed with their own eyes the agony Xianyu Tong endured.

Zhang Wuji asked again, “You hid the golden silkworm gu-poison in your fan. How did it come to harm yourself?” Xianyu Tong said, “Quick…kill me…I don’t know, I don’t know…” With that, his hands clawed and struck at his own body, rolling on the ground. Zhang Wuji said, “You released the golden silkworm gu-poison from your fan to harm me, but I used neili to force it back. What more have you to say?”

Xianyu Tong shrieked, “I brought this disaster on myself…my own doing…” He seized his own throat with both hands, seeking to end his life. But after being struck by the golden silkworm gu-poison, his body had not a shred of strength left. He desperately battered his forehead against the ground, yet could not even break the skin. This venom made the poisoned wish for life yet could not live, wish for death yet could not die, while remaining perfectly conscious, every twinge of pain felt doubly keen, beyond comparison with poisons that kill at once, their terror and dread not to be spoken of in the same breath.

Years ago, Xianyu Tong had been in the Miao Territory¹¹, where he seduced and abandoned a Miao woman. She then placed the golden silkworm gu-poison upon him, yet still hoped he would return to her, so she used a light dosage, leaving it curable. After being poisoned, Xianyu Tong fled at once. He was truly cunning. As he fled, he even stole two pairs of the Miao woman’s golden silkworms. But he had not gone far before collapsing. Coincidentally, Hu Qingniu was gathering herbs in the Miao Territory and saved his life. Thereafter Xianyu Tong raised golden silkworms by that method and refined poison powder, which he hid within his fan-handle. The fan-handle was fitted with a mechanism. With a press and a channelled burst of neili, he could harm a man invisibly. Just now, the moment combat began, he had been constrained, unable to release his neili. Only when Zhang Wuji withdrew his grip did he immediately employ the move “Eagle Soars, Serpent Slithers,” the fan-handle aiming falsely, shooting forth the gu-poison.

Fortunately, Zhang Wuji’s neili was profound beyond measure. At the moment of danger, he held his breath and stilled his qi, instead forcing the poison back. Had his neili been the slightest bit weaker, then the man now rolling and shrieking on the ground would not have been Xianyu Tong but himself. He had studied Wang Nangu’s¹² Poison Treatise thoroughly and knew well the terror of the golden silkworm gu-poison. Secretly he had already circulated one mouthful of zhenqi¹³ throughout his body. Perceiving no ill effect, only then did he set his mind at ease. Seeing Xianyu Tong in such agony, he could not help but feel compassion. He thought, I can save him, but first he must confess aloud his misdeeds of long ago. He said loudly, “The method to cure golden silkworm gu-poison, I do indeed know it. But whatever I ask you, you must answer truthfully. If you speak a single false word, I shall withdraw my hand and take no notice, leaving you to suffer for seven days and seven nights, until by then your flesh rots to the bone. That flavour will not be pleasant to endure.”

Footnotes

1. 空性 – Kōngxìng. One of the three divine monks of the Shaolin Order, slain by Asan on Bright Peak. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. The leader of a martial faction. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. The community of martial artists and their codes. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

5. 蝶谷医仙 – Diégǔ Yīxiān. Literally Butterfly Valley Doctor Immortal. The epithet of Hu Qingniu, a renowned physician who dwelt in Butterfly Valley and would treat only members of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 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. ↩

7. 明教 – Míng Jiào. The Ming Order, also known as the Manichean cult, a revolutionary organisation opposing Yuan rule. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 渊腋穴 – Yuānyè Xué. An acupoint located in the armpit region, one of the twelve regular meridians’ points. ↩

9. 郭璞 – Guō Pú (276–324 CE). Eastern Jin dynasty scholar and writer, famed for his commentaries on classical texts and his mastery of occult arts. ↩

10. 金蚕蛊毒 – Jīncán Gǔdú. Golden Silkworm Gu-Poison. The most terrible of all venoms, formless and colourless, inflicting agony as though a thousand silkworms gnawed the body simultaneously. The creature was rare and could strike even those without martial arts. ↩

11. 苗疆 – Miáo Jiāng. The Miao Territory, the southwestern frontier regions inhabited by the Miao people, known for their skills in gu-poison and sorcery. ↩

12. 王难姑 – Wáng Nàngū. Wife of Hu Qingniu and author of the Poison Treatise, an expert in toxicology. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 真气 – zhēnqì. True qi. Refined qi produced through internal cultivation, distinct from ordinary neili. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩