The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 24 – Part 2

Zhang Wuji watched the Daoist lead Kongxiang into the Three Pure Ones Hall of Purple Cloud Palace,¹ then crouched beside the long window. Kongxiang's voice rang out loud and clear, “Please inform Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One² at once. The matter is urgent and brooks no delay.”

The Daoist replied, “Sir, you have come at an unfortunate time. My grand shifu entered closed-door meditation two years ago and has not emerged for over a year. Even disciples of our own Order have not been granted an audience with him.”

Kongxiang said, “Then please inform Song daxia.³”

The Daoist answered, “My grand shixiong has led our shifu and several shishu to join your school in a joint expedition against the Ming Order. They have not yet returned.”

When Zhang Wuji heard the words “have not yet returned,” he was privately alarmed. So Song Yuanqiao and the others had met with trouble on their way home as well.

Kongxiang gave a long sigh. “Then Wudang shares the same fate as our Shaolin Order. Today we cannot escape this calamity.”

The Daoist did not understand his meaning and said, “Matters of our Order are at present overseen by my shixiong Lingxuzi. I shall go at once and inform him, and ask him to come out and receive you, sir.”

Kongxiang asked, “Which disciple is Daoist Lingxu?”

“He is a disciple of Shishu Yu, the third of our seven.”

Kongxiang’s long brows lifted. “Yu the Third Xia’s limbs are injured, yet I understand. These words of mine had best be told to Yu the Third Xia.”

The Daoist replied, “Yes, I shall do as you say.” He turned and went inside.

Kongxiang paced the hall, plainly impatient. From time to time he cocked his ear to listen, no doubt fearing the enemy might attack up the mountain. Before long the Daoist hurried out, bowing and said, “Shishu Yu the Third invites you in. He begs you will excuse him for not coming out to greet you in person.” The Daoist’s manner was now even more deferential than before, no doubt because Yu Daiyan, upon hearing that a Shaolin monk of the kong⁴ generation had arrived, had instructed him to redouble his courtesy. Kongxiang nodded and followed the Daoist towards Yu Daiyan’s quarters.

Zhang Wuji thought, Third Shibo has lost the use of his limbs, yet his ears and eyes must be twice as keen for it. If I eavesdrop outside his window, he will surely detect me. When he was still several dozen feet from Yu Daiyan’s room, he stopped.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Daoist hurried out of Yu Daiyan’s chamber and called in a low voice, “Qingfeng, Mingyue! Come here.” Two Daoist boys approached him and said, “Shishu!”

The Daoist said, “Prepare the soft chair. Third Shishu is coming out.”

The two boys acknowledged the order.

Zhang Wuji had lived on Mount Wudang for several years. He did not recognise the Daoist who had received guests, a new disciple of Yu Lianzhou, but he knew Qingfeng and Mingyue well. He knew that Yu Daiyan sometimes went out seated in a soft chair carried by the boys. He watched the two of them head towards the side-chamber where the chair was kept, and followed quietly. As soon as they entered the room, he called out suddenly, “Qingfeng, Mingyue! Do you recognise me?”

The two boys started. They stared at him, his face dimly familiar, yet they could not place him at once.

Zhang Wuji laughed. “I’m your Xiaoshu Wuji. Have you forgotten me?”

The boys remembered at once. Delight flooded their faces. “Ah, Xiaoshu! You’re back! Is your illness cured?”

They were much of an age and had often played together in the old days.

Zhang Wuji said, “Qingfeng, let me take your place. I’ll carry Third Shibo and see whether he notices.”

Qingfeng hesitated. “Well…that might not be best.”

“Third Shibo will be overjoyed to see me well and home again,” Zhang Wuji said. “He’ll be in too good a humour to scold you.”

The boys knew well that, from their Patriarch⁵ Zhang Sanfeng down, six of the Seven Xias of Wudang all doted on their little Xiaoshu. His recovery and return was the happiest of news. If he wanted to play a small trick on Yu Daiyan to cheer him in his illness, it could do no harm.

Mingyue laughed. “Do as Xiaoshu says!”

Qingfeng took off his Daoist robe, shoes and socks with a grin, and handed them to Zhang Wuji. Mingyue helped him tie his hair into a Daoist top-knot. In moments he looked for all the world like a young Daoist boy.

Mingyue said, “You don’t look enough like Qingfeng for a trick. Say you’re a newly received boy from the temple, and that Qingfeng has hurt his leg, so you’re taking his place.”

Zhang Wuji laughed. “Excellent…”

From outside the chamber came the Daoist’s angry shout, “You two little brats, what are you giggling and fooling about in there? Why so long?”

Zhang Wuji and Mingyue stuck out their tongues. They lifted the soft chair and headed straight for Yu Daiyan’s room.

The two of them helped Yu Daiyan into the soft chair. Yu Daiyan’s face was grave. He did not notice which boy was carrying him, but said, “To the small courtyard at the back of the mountain, to see our Patriarch.”

Mingyue answered, “Yes!” He turned and took the front of the chair while Zhang Wuji took the rear. Yu Daiyan could see only Mingyue’s back. Zhang Wuji was hidden from him altogether. Kongxiang walked beside the chair. Together they went to the back of the mountain. The Daoist who had received guests did not dare follow, not having been summoned by Yu Daiyan.

Zhang Sanfeng’s small courtyard for closed-door meditation lay deep within the bamboo grove at the back of the mountain. Tall bamboo rose thick about it, green shade carpeted the ground, and save for the occasional birdsong not a sound stirred. Mingyue and Zhang Wuji carried Yu Daiyan to the front of the courtyard and set down the chair.

Yu Daiyan was about to call out for an audience when, from behind the bamboo door, Zhang Sanfeng’s aged voice came drifting out, “Which high monk of the Shaolin Order graces my humble abode? This old Daoist failed to greet you in person. I beg you will forgive the omission.”

The bamboo door creaked open. Zhang Sanfeng stepped out at a slow pace.

Kongxiang’s face showed surprise. He had not expected Zhang Sanfeng to know that his visitor was a Shaolin monk, and was greatly puzzled. But at once he reasoned that the Daoist who had received guests must have sent word ahead. Yu Daiyan, however, knew that his shifu’s martial arts had grown ever more profound. From the sound of Kongxiang’s footsteps alone, Zhang Sanfeng could divine the visitor’s school and the depth of his cultivation.

Zhang Wuji’s neili⁶ far surpassed Kongxiang’s. From substance he had returned to void. In every movement, every glance, every footfall, every word, he concealed himself utterly. Zhang Sanfeng could not detect him. He saw that though his grand shifu’s face was ruddy and hale, his beard and brows were both white. Compared with the Zhang Sanfeng he remembered, his grand shifu had aged visibly. His heart was at once glad and sorrowful, and tears nearly sprang to his eyes. He turned his head away.

Kongxiang bowed and pressed his palms together. “I am Kongxiang of Shaolin. I pay my respects to Senior Zhang, Perfected One of Wudang.”

Zhang Sanfeng returned the salute with clasped palms. “I dare not. Sir, pray dispense with ceremony. Come inside and speak.”

The five of them entered the small courtyard together. On a plank table stood a teapot and a single teacup. On the floor lay a rush cushion. On the wall hung a wooden jian.⁷ Beyond that, nothing. Table and floor were thick with dust.

Kongxiang said, “Zhang the Perfected One, our Shaolin Order has suffered a calamity unmatched in a thousand years. The demonic cult launched a surprise attack. From our abbot Kongwen shixiong down, some died defending the monastery, some were taken after fighting to exhaustion. Only I fought my way free. The main host of the demonic cult is even now marching on Wudang. Today the survival and honour of the wulin⁸ of the Central Plains rests on Zhang the Perfected One alone.” As he spoke, he burst into loud weeping.

Zhang Wuji’s heart shook. He had known that the Shaolin Order had met with disaster, yet it had never entered his mind that the entire Order could be destroyed.

Even Zhang Sanfeng, with a century of cultivation behind him, was shaken by the news. For a long moment he could not speak. Then he steadied himself and said, “The demonic cult has grown so bold? Shaolin Monastery is home to masters beyond counting. How could they fall to the cult’s treachery?”

Kongxiang said, “Kongzhi and Kongxing shixiong led their disciples in alliance with the five great schools of the Central Plains on a western expedition to besiege Bright Peak. Those of us who remained in the monastery waited day by day for good news. One day word came from the foot of the mountain that the expedition had returned in great victory. Abbot Kongwen shixiong was overjoyed at the news. He led the entire monastery out beyond the mountain gate to greet them. Sure enough, Kongzhi and Kongxing shixiong came leading the expeditionary disciples back into the temple, with several hundred prisoners in tow. When all had assembled in the great courtyard, the abbot asked the shixiong how victory had been won. Kongzhi shixiong answered evasively. Then Kongxing shixiong suddenly cried out, ‘Shixiong, beware! We have fallen into enemy hands. All these prisoners are the foe…’

“In the abbot’s moment of shock, the prisoners drew their blades and struck without warning. Our brothers were taken by surprise, and with most of our best men away on the expedition, the force left to guard the temple was too weak. The front and rear exits of the great courtyard were already sealed by the enemy. A fierce battle followed, and we were utterly defeated. Kongxing shixiong died on the spot…” His voice broke. He could not continue for weeping.

Zhang Sanfeng’s heart grew heavy. “The demonic cult is so vicious, employing such a wicked stratagem. Who could have guarded against it?”

Kongxiang reached up and unslung the yellow cloth bundle from his back. He unwrapped the cloth. Beneath it lay a layer of oilskin. He unfolded the oilskin, and there lay a severed head, its round eyes staring wide, its face frozen in fury. It was Kongxing daxia,⁹ one of the three great divine monks of Shaolin.

Both Zhang Sanfeng and Zhang Wuji recognised the face. At the sight, they both cried out, “Ah!”

Kongxiang wept. “I risked my life to recover Kongxing shixiong’s mortal remains. Zhang the Perfected One, how shall this great wrong be avenged?” He laid Kongxing’s head reverently on the table, then prostrated himself on the ground.

Zhang Sanfeng bowed in grief and returned the salute with clasped palms.

Zhang Wuji thought of Kongxing shenseng,¹⁰ generous and forthright in the contests atop Bright Peak, his valour beyond compare, a true master of Shaolin’s lineage. That so noble a man should perish by treachery, his body parted from his head, grieved him deeply.

Footnotes

1. 紫霄宫 – Zǐxiāo Gōng. Purple Cloud Palace. One of the principal temples on Mount Wudang, seat of the Wudang Order’s ceremonies and assembly. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 真人 – zhēnrén. Literally “true person.” An honorific title for a Daoist master of the highest cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 大侠 – dàxiá. A title of respect for a renowned martial artist of great chivalry. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 空 – kōng. The generation-name of senior Shaolin monks in this era. Kongjian, Kongwen, Kongzhi and Kongxing all bear this character. ↩

5. 祖师 – zǔshī. Patriarch. Founder of a school or tradition. Here refers to Zhang Sanfeng as the founder of the Wudang Order. ↩

6. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force. The kinetic manifestation of qi, cultivated through neigong and deployed in martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

8. 武林 – wǔlín. The martial forest. The community of martial artists and their schools, distinct from but overlapping with the jianghu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 空性 – Kōngxìng. One of the Four Holy Monks of Shaolin, renowned for his Dragon Claw Hand. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 神僧 – shénsēng. Divine monk. An honorific for a monk of extraordinary martial and spiritual attainment. ↩