The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 23 – Part 8

Zhang Wuji at once thought of Yuanzhen.[^yuanzhen] Taking on martial arts already learned when entering a new shimen was common enough in the Shaolin Order, and he said, "Wei the Bat King[^wei-batking] struck Yin the Sixth Xia twice with his Cold Ice Cotton Palm.[^hanbingmian] His grand-shifu and shifu cannot simply let that pass. Let us go up and see whether the Great Monks truly refuse to receive us."

The company expected a fierce battle to be unavoidable. The Shaolin Order had always been the paramount power in the wulin;¹ for a thousand years the jianghu² had called it the “ever-victorious faction.” Today’s great clash would show whether the Ming Order or the Shaolin Order was the stronger. Each man was brimming with spirit as they quickened their pace up the mountain, reflecting that Shaolin Monastery held experts as numerous as clouds, and the battle ahead would be formidable indeed.

In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea they reached the stone pavilion before the monastery. Zhang Wuji remembered how years ago he had followed his grand-shifu up this mountain, and in this very pavilion met the three great divine monks of the Shaolin Order. Today he returned, though only a few years had passed between. Back then he had been a sickly, skeletal child whose very survival was uncertain, and today he was the revered Order Leader of the Ming Order. Recalling those old days, it truly felt as though a lifetime had intervened.

He saw that two of the pavilion’s pillars were broken, and the stone table within had been overturned onto the ground. Cannot Tell laughed and said, “The Shaolin monks are fond of fighting. These two pillars are freshly broken. Most likely they had a great brawl only days ago and have not yet found time to mend them.” Zhou Dian said, “After we win today’s battle, we shall demolish this pavilion altogether.”

The heroes waited in the pavilion, expecting a large force of experts to issue from the monastery. Surely they would observe courtesy before resorting to arms, demanding why they had inflicted such cruel injuries upon Yin Liting. If the monks proved unreasonable, then there would be nothing for it but to fight. Yet after waiting a long while, not a sound came from within.

After a time further, they saw at a distance a party of men running from behind the monastery towards the back mountain. Counting by eye, there were some forty or fifty. Peng Yingyu said, “Hmph. They are deploying troops and laying ambushes on all sides.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Enter the monastery!” Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao took the left, Yin Tianzheng and Yin Yewang the right, while Iron Crown Adept,³ Peng Yingyu, Zhou Dian, and Cannot Tell, the four Unbound Adepts,⁴ followed behind, escorting Zhang Wuji through the temple gates. They came to the Mahavira Hall.⁵ The offering table before the Buddha image had been toppled, the incense burner lay upon the floor, and the ground was thick with ash. But not a soul was to be seen. Cannot Tell sneered, “The Shaolin Order is so panicked at our arrival that they have overturned their own incense burner. Laughable, laughable!”

Zhang Wuji said in a clear voice, “Zhang Wuji of the Ming Order, accompanied by our Order’s Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng, Wei Yixiao and others, has come to pay respects at this mountain, and requests an audience with the Master Abbot.⁶” His voice was not especially loud, but his neili⁷ was deep and vast. The bronze bell and great drum hung on high beside the hall resonated with his words and began to hum and buzz of their own accord.

Yang Xiao, Wei Yixiao and the rest exchanged glances, each thinking: The Order Leader’s neili is terrifyingly profound. It is beyond belief. Even the late Order Leader Yang, when he lived, fell far short. In today’s battle our Order may expect certain victory.

Zhang Wuji’s words carried to every corner of Shaolin Monastery’s front and rear courtyards, yet after waiting a long while, not a single person emerged. Zhou Dian bellowed, “Hey there, you monk brothers of Shaolin! What sort of spectacle is this, hiding away like this? Playing the bride?” His voice was far louder than Zhang Wuji’s, yet the bells and drums in the hall gave no answer.

The heroes waited a while longer, but still no one appeared.

Peng Yingyu said, “A strange feeling has come over me. I sense this monastery is heavy with yin energy. It bodes most ill.” Zhou Dian laughed, “The Shaolin Order has always been sneaky and furtive. What is strange about a heavy yin energy?” Iron Crown Adept suddenly said, “Eh? There is a broken zen staff here.” Cannot Tell said, “Ah! And a great pool of blood here!” Zhou Dian laughed, “I daresay after the battle at Bright Summit the Order Leader’s fame spread so far that Shaolin has hung up the no-fight sign! Look how hastily they fled. They even threw down their weapons.” Iron Crown Adept shook his head. “That is not so.” Zhou Dian said, “Why not?” Iron Crown Adept said, “Then what is the meaning of this blood?” Zhou Dian said, “Most likely they cut their own hands in their fright…” But he stopped, knowing the explanation was too thin to hold.

Just then a sharp gust of wind swept past, sending their robes and sleeves fluttering. Zhou Dian cried happily, “How refreshing!” When suddenly from the west came a great cracking sound, and a huge pine tree dozens of zhang away toppled over. The heroes started and leapt up as one, rushing to the fallen tree. They saw that the pine stood in the south-east corner of a large courtyard. There was no one in the courtyard, yet somehow so great a tree had been broken by the wind and had crushed half a section of the enclosing wall. When they drew close to examine the break they saw that the grain was shattered in interlacing fractures, plainly the work of a powerful striking technique. The broken fibres were slightly dry, showing it had not been done just now.

The heroes scrutinised the surroundings and cried out one after another: “Eh, this is not right!” “Ah, there was fighting here!” “Fierce, indeed. Many were hurt!” Everywhere in the great courtyard lay the traces of savage combat. Upon the flagstones, the neighbouring branches and trunks, the stone of the enclosing walls, there remained countless marks of blade and fist. Blood stains were splashed across it all, testimony that the struggle had been desperate beyond the ordinary. Upon the ground too were many footprints of varying depth, the marks left by experts contesting with neili.

Zhang Wuji cried, “Quick, catch that guest-receiving monk and get to the bottom of this!” Wei Yixiao, Cannot Tell and the rest split up to search, but the guest-receiving monk had vanished without trace. The Five Elements Banners⁸ combed the grounds. In less than half a shichen⁹ the banner-commanders returned one after another to report that there was no one in the monastery, yet everywhere bore signs of fierce fighting. Many of the halls were splashed with blood, and broken weapons littered the floors, but no bodies were found.

Zhang Wuji said, “Left Messenger Yang,¹⁰ what do you make of this?” Yang Xiao said, “This battle took place two or three days ago. Could the Shaolin Order have been wiped out entirely, killed to the last man?” Cannot Tell said, “Were there not dozens of men running to the back mountain just now?” Yang Xiao said, “Those were most likely enemies of the Shaolin Order. Whoever was left on guard, seeing our great company arrive, slipped away.”

Peng Yingyu said, “Judging by the situation, it must be so. That guest-receiving monk was an impostor. It is a pity we did not intercept him. But among the Shaolin Order’s enemies, what faction or school possesses such power? Could it be the Beggars’ Guild?” Zhou Dian said, “The Beggars’ Guild is large and has many experts, but surely it could not slaughter every last bald head in Shaolin Monastery in a single stroke. Only our Ming Order has such capability, and our Order plainly did no such thing.” Iron Crown Adept said, “Zhou Dian, will you stop talking nonsense? Did our Order do this or not, must we not know ourselves?”

The banner-commander of the Thick Earth Banner, Yan Yuan,¹¹ came to report: “I report to the Order Leader that the eighteen arhat statues in the Arhat Hall¹² have been moved. I wonder whether there is something amiss within.” The company knew Yan Yuan was skilled in the arts of architecture and construction. Since suspicion had arisen in him, he must have seen something, and all said, “Let us go and look.” They went to the Arhat Hall and found blood stains splashed across the walls, while precept dao and zen staff lay scattered thick upon the floor.

Zhou Dian asked, “Brother Yan, what is strange about these eighteen arhats?” Yan Yuan said, “Every one of the arhat statues has been pushed. At first I suspected there might be a hidden door or secret passage behind them, but I have examined the walls and found neither.”

Yang Xiao mused for a while, then said, “Let us push the arhat statues aside once more and look.” Yan Yuan leapt onto the dais and shoved the Long-Browed Arhat to one side, exposing the wall behind. There was indeed nothing unusual. Yang Xiao too sprang up onto the dais and studied the Long-Browed Arhat closely. Suddenly he cried, “Eh!” and said, “There are words written on the arhat’s back.” He turned the statue about.

The company saw, startlingly clear, a single character the size of a bucket: “灭.” “Annihilate.” The arhat statue had been gilded, and now upon its golden back someone had carved the great character with a sharp blade, cutting over an inch deep. The strokes laid bare the clay beneath. The marks were fresh, clearly carved not long ago.

Zhou Dian said, “This character ‘Annihilate,’ what does it mean? Ah, I see. The Emei Order has challenged Shaolin Monastery, and Miejue Shitai¹³ left this character as a warning.” The company all thought the matter far too improbable and shook their heads.

Even as they spoke, the heroes had turned all eighteen arhat statues about. Save for the Dragon-Subduing Arhat at the far right and the Tiger-Subduing Arhat at the far left, each of the remaining sixteen bore a single character carved upon its back. Read from right to left, the sixteen great characters were plainly to be seen:

First, destroy Shaolin; next, annihilate Wudang. Ming Order alone shall reign supreme over the wulin!

Yin Tianzheng, Iron Crown Adept, Cannot Tell and the rest cried out as one: “This is a wicked scheme to shift the blame!” The company looked upon those sixteen characters, their strokes fierce and menacing, and thought of the monks of Shaolin Monastery who had met so cruel a fate. And now this debt was to be charged to the Ming Order’s account. Not one of them failed to feel a deep unease.

Zhou Dian cried, “Let us scrape these words away at once, before we are made the scapegoats!” Yang Xiao said, “The enemy’s design is vicious. Merely scraping off these sixteen characters may not suffice.” This time Zhou Dian judged him right and did not argue further, but asked only, “Then what do we do?” Cannot Tell said, “These characters are in truth a piece of evidence. When we find the man who set this trap, we shall bring him to confront these sixteen characters.” Yang Xiao nodded in agreement.

Peng Yingyu said, “There is one further matter I do not understand, and I must ask Left Messenger Yang to instruct me. Whoever carved these sixteen characters did so with the intent of casting the blame upon our Order, that we should bear the great crime of Shaolin’s destruction and all the wulin’s factions rise against us in fury. But then why did he leave the arhat statues facing the wall? Why not turn these sixteen characters to face outward? Had not Banner-Commander Yan been observant, would anyone have known there were words upon the arhats’ backs at all?”

Yang Xiao’s expression grew grave. “I surmise that someone else turned these arhats about. Most likely there is someone in the shadows aiding our Order. We owe that person a great debt.” The company cried out together, “Who is this person? How does Left Messenger Yang know?” Yang Xiao sighed. “The twists and turns of this affair, I cannot fathom either…”

He had not finished the words when Zhang Wuji suddenly gave a great cry and said, “‘First, destroy Shaolin; next, annihilate Wudang.’ I fear… I fear the Wudang Order is about to suffer disaster!”

Wei Yixiao said, “We are duty-bound. Let us ride to their aid at once, and see which pack of curs has done this.” Yin Tianzheng too said, “There is no time to lose. Let the whole company set off immediately. These villains have a day or two’s start on us.”

Footnotes

1. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. The community of martial artists and their factions, distinct from the broader jianghu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 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. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 铁冠道人 – Tiěguān Dàorén. Iron Crown Adept. One of the four Unbound Adepts of the Ming Order, a Daoist warrior-monk. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 四散人 – sì sǎnrén. The four Unbound Adepts: the Iron Crown Adept, Peng Yingyu, Zhou Dian and Cannot Tell, four of the Five Unbound Adepts of the Ming Order. A sanren belongs to no sect, school or post. ↩

5. 大雄宝殿 – Dàxióng Bǎodiàn. The Mahavira Hall, the principal hall of a Buddhist monastery, housing the main Buddha image. “大雄” (Great Hero) is an epithet of the Buddha. ↩

6. 大师 – dàshī. Literally great master. An honorific address for a senior monk. ↩

7. 内力 – nèilì. Literally internal force. Kinetic manifestation of cultivated qi; generates tangible effects such as deflecting weapons or scaling walls. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 五行旗 – Wǔxíng Qí. The Five Elements Banners, the military arm of the Ming Order, organised by Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. ↩

9. 时辰 – shíchén. A traditional unit of time equal to two hours; the day was divided into twelve shichen. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 杨左使 – Yáng Zuǒshǐ. Left Messenger Yang. Yang Xiao’s title as Bright Left Messenger of the Ming Order. ↩

11. 颜垣 – Yán Yuán. Yan Yuan. Banner-Commander of the Thick Earth Banner, skilled in architecture and construction. ↩

12. 罗汉堂 – Luóhàn Táng. The Arhat Hall, one of the major halls of Shaolin Monastery responsible for martial arts instruction. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 灭绝师太 – Mièjué Shītài. Her dharma-name meaning “Extinction” or “Annihilation.” Zhangmen of the Emei Order. 师太 (shītài) is an honorific for a senior Buddhist nun. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩