The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 21 – Part 6

Though Xianyu Tong's[^xianyuTong] body was wracked with pain, his mind remained sharp. He thought in secret, *That Miao woman, after she placed this poison on me, said I would suffer torment for seven days and seven nights before my flesh rotted and my bones showed. How is it this lad speaks so accurately?* Yet still he did not believe the boy possessed the divine skill of Butterfly Valley Doctor Immortal[^diegu] Hu Qingniu, able to cure such deadly poison. He said, "You... cannot save me..."

Zhang Wuji smiled faintly. He reversed his folded fan and pressed a point at Xianyu Tong’s waist, saying, “Make an opening here, pour in the medicine, then sew it shut. That will drive out the gu-poison.”

Xianyu Tong hastened to say, “Yes, yes! Not a single… single… point wrong.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Then speak. What shameful deeds have you done in your life?”

Xianyu Tong said, “None… none…”

Zhang Wuji cupped his fists and said, “Very well! You may lie here for seven days and seven nights.”

Xianyu Tong cried, “I… I’ll speak…” Yet to recount his shameful deeds before the assembled crowd was a grievous trial. He stammered for a long while, but in the end could not bring himself to speak.

Suddenly, two clear whistles rang out from the Huashan School.¹ Two men leapt forth simultaneously, one tall and one short, both past fifty years of age. Their long dao blades gleamed as they bounded before Zhang Wuji. The shorter elder said in a sharp voice, “You surnamed Zeng, our Huashan School may be killed but not dishonoured. To treat our zhangmen² thus is no act of a hero and brave man.”

Zhang Wuji clasped his fists and said, “Might I ask your honourable names?”

The short elder snapped, “You are not worthy to ask my shidi³ and my names.” He bent down, reaching with his left hand to grab Xianyu Tong. Zhang Wuji sent out a hollow palm-force, forcing him back a step, and said coldly, “His body is full of poison. A single touch and you will be no different from him. You had best be careful.”

The short elder started, trembling with fright. Then they heard Xianyu Tong cry, “Save me quickly… save me quickly… Bai Yuan… Bai shige,⁴ it was I who used this golden silkworm gu-poison to kill him. There is nothing else, no other shameful deed.”

When he spoke these words, the two elders and all the Huashan School company were greatly shocked. The short elder asked, “Bai Yuan was killed by you? Is this true? Why did you say he died at the Ming Order’s⁵ hands?”

Xianyu Tong cried, “Bai… Bai shige… I beg you, spare me…” He wailed aloud, kowtowing without pause. “Bai shige… you died a cruel death, but who told you to press me so hard back then… You were going to tell Shifu about the Hu family young lady. Shifu would never have forgiven me. I… I had no choice but to silence you. Bai shige… let me go… spare me…” His hands clutched at his own throat as he cried, “I harmed you, and had no choice but to lay the blame on the Ming Order. But… but… how many paper ingots have I burned for you, how many masses have I held. Why do you still come to claim my life? Your wife and children, I have cared for them all this time… they lack neither food nor clothing.”

The sun shone bright upon the square, crowded as it was with people. Yet Xianyu Tong’s piteous cries carried such a chilling wind that those present felt a cold dread, as though Bai Yuan’s ghost had truly appeared before them. Those of the Huashan School who had known Bai Yuan were the more terrified.

Zhang Wuji had not expected this. He had thought Xianyu Tong would confess to repaying kindness with betrayal, to causing Hu Qingniu’s sister’s death. Instead, he was admitting to murdering his own shige. Hu Qingyang had died by her own hand, and Xianyu Tong’s faithlessness had never troubled his conscience. But Bai Yuan, Bai Yuan he had killed with his own hand. He remembered how Bai Yuan had writhed and rolled after being struck by the golden silkworm gu-poison. Now he endured every twinge himself, and in his terror and pain could think only of the name “Bai Yuan,” as though the ghost had come to claim his life.

Zhang Wuji did not know who Bai Yuan had been, but from Xianyu Tong’s words he understood that he had pinned the murder upon the Ming Order, and that this was likely why the Huashan School had joined the assault on Bright Peak.⁶ He said in a clear voice, “All of the Huashan School, listen. Bai Yuan, your Bai Shifu, was not killed by the Ming Order. You have blamed the wrong party.”

The tall elder suddenly raised his dao and slashed down towards Xianyu Tong’s head. Zhang Wuji thrust out his folded fan and touched the blade. The steel dao swung aside and fell to the ground with a slap, embedding itself over a foot in the earth. The tall elder cried, “This man is a traitor to our faction. We clean our own house. Why do you meddle?”

Zhang Wuji said, “I have already promised to cure the gu-poison in his body. A promise given cannot be taken back. Your faction’s internal affairs may be settled at your leisure when you return to Mount Hua.”

The short elder said, “Shidi, the lad speaks true.” He flew up a kick and struck Xianyu Tong’s Dazhui acupoint⁷ on the upper back. The kick not only sealed his acupoints but sent him flying. He landed with a thud before the Huashan School company. Though Xianyu Tong’s acupoints were sealed and his body still wracked with pain, he could no longer cry out. He writhed and twisted on the ground. He had his own trusted disciples, but all feared touching his poison, and none dared approach to help.

The short elder said to Zhang Wuji, “My shidi and I are this fellow Xianyu Tong’s shishu.⁸ You have helped our Huashan School uncover a great matter within our faction and cleared the unjust blame from Bai Yuan, my shizhi.⁹ I thank you.” With that, he bowed deeply. The tall elder followed with a bow of his own.

Zhang Wuji hastily returned the courtesy, saying, “Two Seniors, there is no need for such formality.”

The short elder raised his dao in a feint and said harshly, “But our Huashan School’s reputation has been ruined before the crowd by you, lad. My shidi and I will stake these two old lives against you!”

The tall elder picked up his dao and said, “My shixiong and I will stake these two old lives against you.” It seemed that though he was the taller, he followed the shorter elder’s lead in all things. Whatever the short elder said, he repeated.

Zhang Wuji said, “The Huashan School’s honour is its own. A single rotten apple does not spoil the barrel. Every faction in the wulin¹⁰ has its unworthy members. Why should you take it so to heart?”

The tall elder said, “You say it does not matter?”

Zhang Wuji said, “It does not matter.”

The tall elder said, “Shixiong, since the lad says it does not matter, let us leave it at that.” He harboured no small fear of Zhang Wuji and dared not fight him.

The short elder said harshly, “First we drive out the foreign insult, then we clean our house. If today the Huashan School cannot defeat this lad, how can we still show our faces in the wulin?”

The tall elder said, “Very well! Hey, lad, we are going to fight you two against one. If you think that unfair, you had best concede now.”

The short elder frowned and said, “Shidi, you…”

Zhang Wuji cut in, “Two against one, there could be nothing better. But if you lose, you must not trouble the Ming Order further.”

The tall elder was delighted and said loudly, “We two against you one, and you shall surely not survive. My shixiong and I possess a Two Instruments Dao Technique,¹¹ its changes beyond measure. When we attack in tandem, none can withstand us. I feared only that you would insist on single combat, one against one. Since you agree to face us both, you have lost. A promise given may not be taken back!”

Zhang Wuji said, “I shall not go back on my word. I beg the Seniors show mercy beneath your blades.”

The tall elder said, “My blade shows no mercy. Our Two Instruments Dao Technique grows fiercer with every move. There will be no kindness in it. I think you are not a bad lad, and it would be a pity to cut you down…”

The short elder snapped, “Shidi, can you not say less?”

The tall elder said, “Say less, of course I can. But I warn him first, to be on his guard. My shixiong and I’s Two Instruments Dao Technique is the Reverse Two Instruments, each move defying convention…”

The short elder barked, “Silence!” He turned to Zhang Wuji and said, “Receive this move!” He swung his dao and slashed forth.

Zhang Wuji raised Xianyu Tong’s fallen fan and pressed it against the blade’s spine to deflect it.

The tall elder cried, “Hey, hey! No, no! Like this, we would rather not fight.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Why?”

The tall elder said, “That fan holds poison. If it splashes about, it is no jest.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Indeed. Such a venomous thing should not remain in the world to harm men.” He held the fan-handle between his index and middle fingers of his right hand, channelled his neili,¹² and thrust it downwards. The fan pierced the earth with a hiss, vanishing entirely, leaving only a small hole. The ground of the square was hard-packed earth, yet this display of the Nine Yang Divine Skill¹³ was beyond any other present. The crowd could not help but cry out in approval.

The tall elder tucked his dao under his arm and clapped his hands loudly, saying, “Go fetch yourself a weapon.”

Zhang Wuji had no wish to show off before the crowd, but today’s situation was extraordinary. Only by displaying divine skill could he make the six factions retreat in awe. Otherwise, how would they ever relinquish their assault on Bright Peak and return to the Central Plains? He said, “What weapon does the Senior advise I use?”

The tall elder reached out and patted Zhang Wuji’s shoulder twice, laughing, “You lad are amusing. You ask me what weapon you should use.”

Zhang Wuji knew this was merely the old man’s fondness for young people, with no ill intent. But the onlookers were alarmed. The two sides were about to fight, yet one man casually patted his opponent’s shoulder, and the opponent did not even dodge. Had the tall elder exerted force or struck an acupoint, would not the contest have been decided before it began? They did not know that Zhang Wuji’s divine skill protected his body. Had the tall elder attempted treachery, he could not have harmed him.

The tall elder laughed, “If I tell you what weapon to use, will you obey?”

Zhang Wuji smiled and said, “I will.”

The tall elder laughed, “Your martial skill is excellent. The eighteen kinds of weapon, you can surely handle them all. Yet to have you fight us two old men empty-handed would not do.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Empty-handed is fine.”

The tall elder looked about, seeking the most unwieldy weapon he could find. Suddenly he spotted several large boulders at the corner of the square. He said, “I shall let you have some advantage. Use an extremely heavy weapon.” He pointed at the boulders and chuckled.

Each boulder weighed two or three hundred jin.¹⁴ A man of lesser strength could not even lift one, let alone wield it as a weapon. Moreover, they had long been used as seats, their surfaces worn smooth, with no place to grip. How could they serve as weapons? The tall elder’s intention was merely to pose a difficult jest, hoping to embarrass his opponent into withdrawing, so the contest might end without bloodshed.

He did not expect Zhang Wuji to smile faintly and say, “An unusual weapon indeed. The Senior tests my skill.” He walked to the boulders, reached out with his left hand, and lifted one. He held it in his palm and said, “Two Seniors, please!”

Before the words had finished ringing, he leapt into the air, man and boulder together, and landed before the two elders.

Footnotes

1. 华山派 – Huàshān Pài. The Huashan School, a martial faction based on Mount Hua. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

3. 师弟 – shīdì. Male junior fellow disciple. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Dì means younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 师哥 – shīgē. The colloquial form of shixiong, meaning elder brother of the same shimen. Shī means teacher. Gē means elder brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

6. 光明顶 – Guāngmíng Dǐng. Bright Peak, the headquarters of the Ming Order in the Kunlun Mountains. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 大椎穴 – Dàzhuī Xué. The Great Vertebra acupoint, located at the base of the neck where the seventh cervical vertebra protrudes. One of the most important acupoints in the body, striking it can seal the meridians and render the victim unable to speak or move. ↩

8. 师叔 – shīshū. Junior lineage uncle. The shidi of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Shū means father’s younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 师侄 – shīzhí. Lineage nephew. The disciple of one’s shixiong. Shī means teacher. Zhí means nephew. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

11. 两仪刀法 – Liǎngyí Dāofǎ. The Two Instruments Dao Technique, a blade technique based on the I Ching principle of the Two Instruments (yin and yang). The Reverse Two Instruments variant defies conventional patterns. ↩

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

13. 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. ↩

14. 斤 – jīn. A unit of weight, approximately 590 grams in the Ming dynasty. ↩