The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 24 – Part 6

The dozen or more behind Zhao Min¹ all stepped forward together, glaring at him with fury. Cannot Tell² was entirely at ease. He laughed and said, “You say I should not have said such a thing? My name is Cannot Tell,³ yet I have always been able to speak and unable to be prevented. I daresay you can do nothing about it either.” The lean monk behind Zhao Min said angrily, “Master, let your servant deal with this garrulous monk!” Cannot Tell cried, “Excellent! You are a wild monk and I am a wild monk. Let us match skills and invite Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One,⁴ the grandmaster of the Wudang Order, to point out our shortcomings. It would be better than ten years of bitter training alone.” As he spoke, he waved his hands and drew yet another cloth sack from within his robe. Those watching saw sack after sack appearing from his person, as though they were inexhaustible, and could not guess how many more lay concealed beneath his monk's robe.

Zhao Min shook her head slightly and said, “Today we have come to request instruction in Wudang’s supreme arts. Whichever member of the Wudang Order steps forward, we shall be happy to oblige. Whether Wudang truly possesses real skill or merely enjoys an undeserved reputation shall be known to all beneath Heaven after today’s contest. As for the grievance between the Ming Order⁵ and ourselves, we may settle that account at our leisure another day. That little imp Zhang Wuji⁶ is cunning and sly. I shall have his sinew drawn and his skin flayed before the hatred in my heart is eased, but there is no hurry.”

When Zhang Sanfeng⁷ heard the six words that little imp Zhang Wuji, he was greatly puzzled. Is the Cult Leader of the Ming Order truly also named Zhang Wuji? Why does she call him ‘little imp’?

Cannot Tell grinned and said, “Our Cult Leader Zhang is a young hero. You, Miss Zhao, are perhaps several years younger than our Cult Leader yet. Miss Zhao, with your flower-like beauty and moon-like face, why not marry our Cult Leader? I think this monk would make a suitable match…” Before the words were out of his mouth, those behind Zhao Min were bellowing like thunder: “Nonsense!” “Hold your tongue!” “You wild monk talk horse dung!”

Zhao Min’s cheeks flushed crimson. Her beauty became exquisite beyond bearing, her expression holding three parts faint anger and seven parts shyness. A moment ago she had been a great leader commanding a host of heroes. In the twinkling of an eye she had become a bashful little girl. But this mood lasted only an instant. She composed herself and her face grew cold as frost. She said to Zhang Sanfeng, “Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One, if you will not show your hand, then leave behind a single word. Simply say the Wudang Order deceives the world and steals its fame, and we shall clap our hands and be on our way. We may even release your Song Yuanqiao, Yu Lianzhou and the rest of your juniors back to you. What harm would that do?”

Just then Iron-Crowned Daoist Zhang Zhong⁸ and Yin Yewang⁹ arrived in succession, and before long Zhou Dian¹⁰ and Peng Yingyu¹¹ reached the mountaintop as well. The Ming Order’s side had gained four more able fighters.

Zhao Min assessed the situation. In an open battle, victory was far from certain, and what she feared most was Zhang Wuji working some scheme from the shadows. Her gaze swept across the faces of the Ming Order’s company and she thought, The reason Zhang Sanfeng has become a thorn in the court’s side is that his fame is too great and the wulin¹² reveres him as Mount Tai and the Northern Dipper. Since he has made himself the court’s enemy, the martial men of the Central Plains have refused to submit either. But at his age, a candle in the wind, how much longer can he last? There is no need to take his life today. If we can but humble him and bring the Wudang Order’s reputation low, this mission shall count a great success. She said coolly, “We visit Wudang wishing only to test whether Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One’s skill is genuine. If we wished to extirpate the Ming Order, do you suppose we do not know the road to Bright Peak?¹³ Why must we duel at Wudang? Is there none beneath Heaven but Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One who can judge victory and defeat? Very well then. I have here three servants of my household. One has practised a few days of sword-work fit for butchers and dog-killers. Another knows a little crude neili.¹⁴ The third has learned a handful of third-rate fistwork. A-Da, A-Er, A-San, step forward. If Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One can but dispose of my three useless servants, we shall acknowledge that the Wudang Order’s reputation is fully deserved. If not, the jianghu¹⁵ has its own judgement, and I need say no more.” With that she clapped her hands together.

Three figures walked slowly out from behind her.

A-Da was a spare, wizened old man. Both hands cradled a jian,¹⁶ and it was none other than the Heavenly Jian.¹⁷ The man was tall and thin, his face a map of wrinkles, his brows drawn down in misery, as though he had been soundly beaten but moments ago, or had lost his wife and children but yesterday. Anyone who looked upon his countenance could scarce help but grieve and weep on his behalf. A-Er was equally gaunt, a trifle shorter, the crown of his head slick and oily, bald as a egg without a single hair remaining. His temples were sunken on either side, hollowed half an inch deep. A-San, by contrast, was compact and solid, brimming with menace. Wherever skin showed upon his face, his hands, his neck, the muscles knotted and coiled like ancient roots, as though his whole body were stuffed with force ready to burst forth. On his left cheek sat a black mole, and from the mole sprang a tuft of long hair. Zhang Sanfeng, Yin Tianzheng,^¹⁸ Yang Xiao¹⁹ and the rest took in the appearance of these three and were all startled.

Zhou Dian said, “Miss Zhao, these three are first-rate fighters in the wulin. I, Zhou Dian, could not beat a single one of them. How have you the effrontery to disguise them as servants and play jokes upon Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One?”

Zhao Min said, “First-rate fighters in the wulin? I had no notion. What are their names, then?”

Zhou Dian was momentarily struck dumb. Then he gave a great guffaw and said, “This is ‘Frowning Divine Lord, Whose Single Jian Shakes the World’. This is ‘Bald-Headed Heavenly King, Whose Red Qi Dominates the Eight Directions’. And as for this one, there is none in the world who does not know him, none who has not heard of him. He is, er… that is… ‘Almighty Fist, Surpassing All Beneath Heaven, the Great Strength Honoured One’.”

Zhao Min heard his shameless fabrications and could not help but burst out laughing. She said, “These are three servants of my household who cook rice, boil tea, wipe tables and sweep floors. What Divine Lord, Heavenly King or Honoured One about them? Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One, first match your fistwork against my A-San.”

A-San stepped forward and clasped his fists. “Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One, if you please!” His left foot stamped down and with a crack three square bricks beneath it shattered. That the blue bricks beneath his foot should break was nothing remarkable. What was extraordinary was that the two neighbouring bricks, which had not been directly struck, were ground to powder by the force alone.

Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao exchanged a glance. Both thought, Now there’s a fellow.

A-Da and A-Er withdrew slowly, heads bowed, not glancing at any in the hall. From the moment these three had entered the hall they had lingered behind Zhao Min, eyes cast down, manner servile, and no one had paid them any heed. Yet the instant A-San stepped forward his bearing changed utterly, deep as a pool and steady as a mountain, every inch a grandmaster’s bearing. When he withdrew, however, he was once more a cringing, menial figure.

The Wudang Order’s Adept Lingxu had been anxious for his grandshifu’s injury all along. Now he could contain himself no longer and cried aloud, “My grandshifu was wounded and vomited blood not long ago. Did you not see? How can you… how can you…” His voice cracked as though he were about to weep.

Yin Tianzheng thought, So Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One was wounded and vomited blood. By whom, I wonder? Even unscathed, at his great age, how can he trade blows with the likes of these men? This fellow’s skill lies wholly in brute force. Let me take him on. He said in a loud voice, “Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One is a personage of the highest station. How can he stoop to fight with base and lowborn underlings? It would be a joke upon the world. Never mind Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One. Even I, Yin, would not deign to bestow a single punch or kick upon such servile creatures.” He knew full well that A-Da, A-Er and A-San were far from common, yet deliberately spoke of them as though they were refuse, drawing the matter upon himself.

Zhao Min said, “A-San, what have you done of late? Tell them and see whether you are worthy to face a Wudang worthy.” In her words she held ever tight to the name of Wudang.

A-San said, “I have done little of late. Only on the roads of the northwest I crossed fists with a Shaolin monk named Kongxing.²⁰ Finger power against finger power, I broke his Dragon Claw Hand and took his head there and then.”

When these words were spoken, the entire hall stirred. Kongxing, that divine monk, had contended with Zhang Wuji using the Dragon Claw Hand at Bright Peak and for a time held the upper hand. All the Ming Order’s experts had seen it with their own eyes. They had no idea he had met his end at this man’s hands. By the measure of his having struck down a Shaolin divine monk, he was himself a fit match for Zhang Sanfeng.

Yin Tianzheng said loudly, “Good! You have slain Shaolin’s Kongxing the Divine Monk too. Let me, surnamed Yin, have a bout with you. That would be a fine thing.” He strode forward two paces, drew his arms apart into a stance, his white brows bristling, his bearing fearsome and majestic.

A-San said, “White-Browed Eagle King, you are of the unorthodox path and I, A-San, am of the deviant path. We breathe from the same nostril. A man does not strike his own kin. If you wish to fight, let us choose another day. Today my mistress has commanded me to test the substance of Wudang’s skill alone.” He turned towards Zhang Sanfeng. “Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One, if you truly do not wish to enter the ring, a single word will serve. We shall not resort to violence. If the Wudang Order simply admits defeat, surely there is no need to take your life?”

Zhang Sanfeng smiled faintly. He thought that though he was gravely wounded, if he employed the supreme principle of his newly created Taiji Fist,^²¹ using emptiness to master substance, he need not lose to this fellow. The true difficulty lay in what would follow: after defeating A-San, A-Er would step forward to contest neili, and there no trickery would avail. But the fire singed his brows, and he must tend to the present. He would deal with this A-San first and worry about what came after. He walked slowly to the centre of the hall and said to Yin Tianzheng, “Brother Yin, I am grateful for your courtesy. In recent years I have created a fistwork called Taiji Fist, which I find differs in many respects from common martial arts. This gentleman is determined to test Wudang’s skill, and should you defeat him he will scarce be content. I shall employ the techniques of Taiji Fist to exchange a few passes with him, and take the occasion to submit the labour of many years to the judgement of the masters present.”

Yin Tianzheng heard this with mingled joy and concern. From his words the man possessed great confidence in this Taiji Fist. Who was Zhang Sanfeng? Having spoken thus, he must have good reason, else how could he lightly risk a lifetime’s fame? Yet he had but now been gravely wounded and vomited blood, and Yin Tianzheng feared that though his fist-skill might be exquisite, in the end his neili might fail him. He could not press the matter further and could only clasp his fists and say, “This junior respectfully anticipates Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One’s divine skill.”

A-San, seeing Zhang Sanfeng drift gracefully into the ring, felt a third part of fear rise in his heart. Then he thought, Even if today I fight this old Daoist to a mutual ruination, it shall be a deed to shake the wulin. He stilled his breath and focused his mind, his eyes fixed upon Zhang Sanfeng’s face, his inner breath circulating in secret. Throughout his body his bones cracked and popped in continuous soft detonations. Those watching were startled anew, knowing this to be the supreme cultivation of the Buddhist orthodox path, working from without to within, without a trace of deviance, the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Power.

Footnotes

1. 赵敏 – Zhào Mǐn. Daughter of Chaghan Temür, the Prince of Ruyang. A formidable strategist and leader in her own right. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 说不得 – Shuōbùdé. One of the Five Unbound Adepts of the Ming Order, known as the Monk with the Sack. His name means literally cannot tell. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 说不得 – Shuōbùdé. Literally cannot say, or cannot tell. A pun upon his name, for he is in fact exceedingly difficult to silence. ↩

4. 真人 – zhēnrén. Literally true person. Honorific title for a Daoist master of the highest rank. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 明教 – Míng Jiào. The Ming Order, a revolutionary cult opposing Yuan rule. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 张无忌 – Zhāng Wújì. The protagonist. Here Zhao Min refers to Zhang Wuji, the Ming Order Cult Leader, not Zhang Cuishan’s son. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 张三丰 – Zhāng Sānfēng. Founder of the Wudang Order and creator of Taiji Fist. One of the most revered martial artists in the jianghu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 张中 – Zhāng Zhōng. One of the Five Unbound Adepts, known as the Iron-Crowned Daoist. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 殷野王 – Yīn Yěwáng. Son of Yin Tianzheng and brother of Yin Susu. A leader within the Tianying Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 周颠 – Zhōu Diān. One of the Five Unbound Adepts, known as the Lunatic for his erratic behaviour. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 彭莹玉 – Péng Yíngyù. One of the Five Unbound Adepts, known as Peng the Monk. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

13. 光明顶 – Guāngmíng Dǐng. Literally Bright Summit. The headquarters of the Ming Order in the Kunlun Mountains. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

15. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

17. 倚天剑 – Yǐtiān Jiàn. The Heavenly Jian, one of the twin legendary weapons forged from Yang Guo’s Heavy Iron Sword. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 殷天正 – Yīn Tiānzhèng. The White-Browed Eagle King, founder of the Tianying Order and one of the Ming Order’s Four Guardian Kings. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 杨逍 – Yáng Xiāo. The Bright Left Messenger of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 空性 – Kōngxìng. One of Shaolin’s Four Holy Monks, slain by A-San. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 太极拳 – Tàijí Quán. Taiji Fist, the fistwork Zhang Sanfeng newly created, embodying the principle of using softness to overcome hardness. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩