The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 26 – Part 5

When Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao had followed him to the rocky hill, they had already suspected as much. But the transformation in Fan Yao's appearance was so drastic that neither had dared to recognise him outright. Only when they saw him display his martial arts had their guesses climbed to seven or eight parts certainty, and now that he had announced his own name, the two rushed forward and seized his hands in a grip they would not loosen.

Yang Xiao stared at his face for a long while. Tears spilled down his cheeks, and he said, “Brother, I never thought I would see you again in this life. I have missed you sorely.” Fan Yao flung his arms about Yang Xiao and said, “Big brother, you are well? All these years, and you have not aged a day.” Yang Xiao said, “I have missed you sorely.” Fan Yao said gladly, “Big brother, I give thanks to the Bright Lord¹ for his protection, and for sending us a Order Leader² of such ability. You and I shall meet again, after all.” Yang Xiao asked in wonder, “How have you come to look like this, brother?” Fan Yao said, “Had I not destroyed my own face, how could I have deceived that villain Cheng Kun the Primordial Thunderbolt Hand?”

The three of them understood at last that he had disfigured himself on purpose, to infiltrate the enemy and plant himself as a spy. Yang Xiao was overcome with grief. He held Fan Yao’s hand and could not bear to let it go, saying, “Brother, you have suffered terribly.” Yang Xiao and Fan Yao had once been known throughout the jianghu³ as the Two Immortals of Xiaoyao,⁴ both of them handsome and elegant men. That Fan Yao should have mangled his own features into something so hideous, the single-minded resolution and the savage will it demanded, was beyond the reach of ordinary men. Wei Yixiao had never been on good terms with Fan Yao, but even he was deeply moved. He bowed to the ground and said, “Right Messenger Fan, not until today has Wei Yixiao truly yielded to you.” Fan Yao knelt and returned the salute, laughing. “Bat King Wei’s qinggong⁵ is without peer in the world, and his skill surpasses even what it was in his prime. Bitter Dhūta,⁶ last night’s performance was an education.”

Yang Xiao looked about in all directions and said, “This place is not far from the city, and the enemy has eyes and ears everywhere. Let us go to the hollow ahead and talk there.” The four of them ran some ten li⁷ to the far side of a low ridge. The ground around was open for several li in every direction, so there was no fear of anyone lurking close enough to overhear, yet from a distance nothing on the far side of the ridge could be seen. They sat down and spoke of all that had passed since they parted.

Many years before, when Yang Dingtian⁸ had vanished without trace, the chief figures of the Ming Order⁹ had contended for the post of Order Leader, each refusing to yield to the others, until the Order tore itself apart. Fan Yao had tried in vain to dissuade them. Convinced that the former Order Leader was not dead, he had set out alone into the jianghu to search for him. Several years passed without the faintest trace. Then it occurred to him that the Beggars’ Guild¹⁰ might have done him harm. He seized several important figures of the Guild and tortured them with his questions, yet still could find no clue. After that he heard the Ming Order’s own people falling out among themselves still more fiercely, and some among them were searching everywhere for the former Order Leader, hoping to rally the Order in his name. Fan Yao had no desire to contend for the leadership, nor did he wish to be drawn into the struggle. He withdrew far away, but for fear of stumbling into his own brothers, he grew a long beard, dressed himself as an elderly scholar, and wandered from place to place.

One day, in the busy streets of Dadu,¹¹ he caught sight of a man and recognised him as Cheng Kun, the shixiong¹² of the late Order Leader’s wife. A chill ran through him. Already the word was spreading throughout the wulin¹³ that many a skilled fighter had been slain, and at every scene the words “The killer is Cheng Kun the Primordial Thunderbolt Hand” were left behind. Fan Yao wished to learn the truth of the matter, and to question Cheng Kun about the whereabouts of Order Leader Yang. He followed at a distance. Cheng Kun climbed to the upper floor of a wineshop,¹⁴ where two men were waiting. They were the Xuanming Elders.¹⁵ Fan Yao knew Cheng Kun’s martial arts were formidable, so he sat well apart and pretended to drink. He caught only a phrase or two, but the seven words “Bright Summit must be destroyed” he heard as though they had been spoken into his ear. Learning that the Order faced catastrophe, he could not stand aside. He followed the three men in secret as they entered the mansion of the Prince of Ruyang.¹⁶ Later he discovered further that the Xuanming Elders were the foremost warriors among the prince’s household retainers.

The Prince of Ruyang, Chaghan Temür,¹⁷ held the office of Grand Commandant¹⁸ and commanded the military might of the entire realm. Wise and valiant in equal measure, he was the ablest man at court. Every uprising of the rebel armies in the Huai and the Yangtze delta had been put down by the forces he dispatched. The rebel hosts rose and fell, rose and fell, broken each time by Chaghan Temür’s generalship. Zhang Wuji and the rest had long heard his name. Learning now that Lu Zhangke¹⁹ and the others served under him, they were not astonished, yet the news struck them none the less.

Yang Xiao asked, “Then who is that young lady surnamed Zhao?”

Fan Yao said, “Big brother, you may hazard a guess.” Yang Xiao said, “Could she be Chaghan Temür’s daughter?” Fan Yao clapped his hands. “Indeed. One guess and you have it. The Prince of Ruyang has a son and a daughter. The son is called Köke Temür,²⁰ and the daughter is this very young lady. Her Mongol name is something like Minmin Temür. Köke Temür is the prince’s heir and will inherit the title in time. The lady’s investiture is Shao Min Junzhu.²¹ Both children are fond of martial arts and have been well taught. They also enjoy dressing as Han people and speaking the Han tongue, and each has taken a Han name. The young man calls himself Wang Baobao,²² and the girl is Zhao Min.²³ The name ‘Zhao Min’ is taken from her investiture ‘Shao Min Junzhu.’” Wei Yixiao said, “A curious pair, these brother and sister. One surnamed Wang, the other surnamed Zhao. If they were Han, it would be the laugh of the jianghu.” Fan Yao said, “In truth they are both surnamed Temür, but they set the given name before the family name, as is the barbarian custom of the foreign tribes. The Prince of Ruyang, Chaghan Temür, also has a Han surname, which is Li.” All four laughed together.

(Note: The New History of Yuan, chapter 220, “Biography of Chaghan Temür”: “Chaghan Temür’s great-grandfather was Kökötai, his grandfather Naimantai, his father Aluqun. The family settled in Henan and became people of Shenqiu, Yingzhou, taking the surname Li.” Chaghan Temür had no son of his own; Köke Temür was his nephew, taken as an adopted heir and raised as the prince’s successor. Such minor points the novel does not examine in detail.)

Yang Xiao said, “That young lady Zhao has the face and figure of a Han beauty, but the moment one watches her conduct, the savage wildness of the foreign-born woman shows itself at once.”

Not until this moment did Zhang Wuji learn Zhao Min’s origins. He had long suspected she must be a noble of the court, yet he had never imagined she was the daughter of the Grand Marshal of the Realm, the Prince of Ruyang. Several times they had crossed swords, and each time he had come off the worse to some degree. Her martial arts were not his equal, but her mind was sharp and her devices beyond counting. Against her, he was simply no match.

Fan Yao went on, “I continued to spy in secret and learned that the Prince of Ruyang believed the realm to be in turmoil because there were too many martial artists among the Han, who banded together in rebellion. He was resolved to wipe out every faction and guild in the jianghu. He adopted Cheng Kun’s counsel, and the first step was the destruction of our Order. I considered the matter carefully. Our Order was torn by ceaseless quarrels within, while the enemy without was this strong. Annihilation was at our door. The only hope of salvation was to infiltrate the prince’s household, discover his designs, and then seize the moment to act. Beyond that, I could think of no other course. Only one thing puzzled me greatly. Cheng Kun was the shixiong of Order Leader Yang’s wife, and he was also Xie Xun the Lion King’s shifu.²⁴ Why then did he bear our Order so deadly a grudge? I could find no reason, however hard I thought, and could only suppose he was chasing wealth and rank, hoping to win merit at court by destroying us. Few in the Order had ever set eyes on Cheng Kun, but I myself had met him once, and he knew my face. To keep my purpose from discovery, I would have to find a way to kill the man.” Wei Yixiao said, “Quite right.”

Fan Yao said, “But the man was exceedingly cunning, and strong in martial arts. Three times I laid ambush for him, and three times I failed. The third time I did land a sword-thrust, but he cut me with a palm-strike in return. I barely escaped with my life, and though my secret held, I was so grievously wounded that it took more than a year to heal. By then the prince’s plotting was more urgent than ever. I reasoned that a disguise could only deceive for a time. In my day Yang Big Brother and I were well known together, and not a few in the jianghu had heard of the Two Immortals of Xiaoyao. Sooner or later, I would be exposed. So I set my teeth and destroyed my own face. I dressed as an ascetic monk with unshaved hair, dyed my hair with drugs, and went to offer my services in the Kingdom of Khwarezm²⁵ in the Western Regions.”

Wei Yixiao asked in surprise, “To Khwarezm? That is ten thousand li away. What has that to do with any of this?” Fan Yao smiled. Before he could answer, Yang Xiao clapped his hands and said, “A superb scheme. Brother Wei, when Fan Brother reached Khwarezm, he sought a chance to display his skill. The Mongol princes there would surely take him on. The Prince of Ruyang was recruiting warriors from every quarter, and the lords of Khwarezm, keen to curry favour with the prince, would assuredly send him to the mansion. In that way, Fan Brother would arrive as a Semu²⁶ warrior presented by the Kingdom of Khwarezm. His face was changed, he spoke no words, and even Cheng Kun’s great talent could not have recognised him.”

Wei Yixiao gave a long sigh. “Order Leader Yang ranked the Two Immortals of Xiaoyao above the four Eagle Kings, and his eye was indeed a keen one. A scheme of such depth, no Eagle King or Bat King could have conceived it.” Fan Yao said, “Brother Wei, you praise me enough. Just as Yang Big Brother foresaw, I killed lions and tigers in Khwarezm and won myself a name. The local prince sent me to the mansion of the Prince of Ruyang, but Cheng Kun was no longer there. I knew not where he had gone.”

Yang Xiao then gave a brief account of how Cheng Kun had made enemies of the Ming Order, how he had launched his surprise attack on Bright Summit,²⁷ how his schemes had been foiled by Zhang Wuji, and how he had matched palm-force with Yin Yewang²⁸ and died.

Fan Yao listened in silence. When Yang Xiao had finished, he stood frozen for a long while, for he had not imagined so many turns of fortune lay between. At last he rose, bowed deeply to Zhang Wuji, and said, “Order Leader, there is a matter for which I must beg your judgement.” Zhang Wuji said, “Why does Right Messenger Fan speak so gravely?” Fan Yao said, “When I entered the Prince of Ruyang’s household, I needed the prince’s trust. In the streets of Dadu, I killed three Incense Masters²⁹ of our Order with my own hands, to make plain that I had long been at deadly feud with the Ming Order.”

Zhang Wuji said nothing, but thought, The slaughter of our own brothers is among the gravest taboos of the Order. For this reason, when Left Messenger Yang, the four Eagle Kings, and the Five Elements Banners contended for the leadership, fierce as their struggles were, they never took a brother’s life. Right Messenger Fan’s offence is no light one. But his purpose was the defence of the Order, not private malice, and by the letter of the rules I cannot condemn him. He said, “Right Messenger Fan acted from devotion to the Order. Though he broke the rules, I shall not press the matter.” Fan Yao bowed and said, “I thank the Order Leader for his mercy.” Zhang Wuji reflected, This Right Messenger Fan is capable of a ruthlessness rarely seen in the world. A man who could cut his own face seventeen or eighteen times would think nothing of killing a few innocent Incense Masters. No wonder the Ming Order is called a demonic cult. There is reason for it. I must issue fresh commands, reinforcing the Three Great Injunctions and the Five Lesser Injunctions, if this demonic strain is ever to be purged.

Fan Yao saw that although Zhang Wuji had said he would not press the matter, a shadow of disquiet crossed his face. He reached out, drew the jian³⁰ from Yang Xiao’s waist, and with a single thrust of his right hand drove the blade deep into his own left arm. Blood gushed forth. Zhang Wuji was startled. He snatched the jian from his hand and said, “Right Messenger Fan, you… why have you done this?” Fan Yao said, “To slaughter innocent brothers of the Order is a grave sin. I cannot take my own life, for my task is unfinished. This wound I offer now. When the day comes, I shall offer my head as well.”

Footnotes

1. 明尊 – Míng Zūn. The Bright Lord. The supreme deity of the Ming Order, identified with both the Fire God and the God of Goodness. The central figure of the Order’s worship. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 教主 – jiàozhǔ. The head of a religious or martial order. In the Ming Order, the supreme leader. ↩

3. 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, including pedlars, physicians, fortune-tellers, entertainers, boatmen, beggars, outlaws and the like. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 逍遥二仙 – Xiāoyáo Èr Xiān. The Two Immortals of Xiaoyao, the epithet of Yang Xiao and Fan Yao in their youth, celebrated for their handsome looks and elegant bearing. ↩

5. 轻功 – qīnggōng. Lightness skill; the martial art of moving with supernatural speed and agility. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 苦头陀 – Kǔ Tóutuó. Bitter Dhūta. The disguise Fan Yao adopted: a lay-headed Buddhist ascetic with a hideously scarred face. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 里 – lǐ. Approximately one-third of a mile, or five hundred metres. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 阳顶天 – Yáng Dǐngtiān. The former Order Leader of the Ming Order, who vanished without trace many years before the events of this chapter. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 明教 – Míng Jiào. The Ming Order, also known as the Ming Cult. A secret martial order whose teachings draw on Manichaeanism. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 丐帮 – Gài Bāng. The Beggars’ Guild, the largest and most powerful organisation in the jianghu, numbering its members by the hundred thousand. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 大都 – Dàdū. The Great Capital, modern-day Beijing, seat of the Yuan court. ↩

12. 师兄 – shīxiōng. Male senior fellow disciple. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Xiōng means older brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 武林 – wǔlín. The martial forest; the community of martial artists and their factions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 酒楼 – jiǔlóu. A wineshop, a storeyed establishment serving wine and food. ↩

15. 玄冥二老 – Xuánmíng Èr Lǎo. The two Xuanming Elders, Lu Zhangke and He Biweng, masters of the Xuanming Divine Palms. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 汝阳王 – Rǔyáng Wáng. The Prince of Ruyang, Chaghan Temür, a senior Mongol prince and commander-in-chief of the Yuan military. ↩

17. 察罕特穆尔 – Cháhǎn Tèmù’ér. Chaghan Temür, the Prince of Ruyang. A historical figure; his name in Chinese sources is sometimes written 察罕帖木儿. ↩

18. 太尉 – tàiwèi. Grand Commandant, one of the Three Excellencies, the highest rank of civil-military office under the Yuan. ↩

19. 鹿杖客 – Lù Zhàngkè. Lu Zhangke, the Deer-Staff Guest, elder of the Xuanming Elders. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 库库特穆尔 – Kùkù Tèmù’ér. Köke Temür, the adopted heir of Chaghan Temür. Known to the Han by his name Wang Baobao. ↩

21. 郡主 – jùnzhǔ. A commandery princess, the title given to a daughter of a prince of the blood. ↩

22. 王保保 – Wáng Bǎobǎo. The Han name of Köke Temür. A major historical figure and one of the last great generals of the Yuan. ↩

23. 赵敏 – Zhào Mǐn. Zhao Min, the Han name of Minmin Temür, daughter of the Prince of Ruyang. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 师父 – shīfù. Teacher and lineage father. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 花剌子模 – Huālàzǐmó. Khwarezm, a kingdom in the Western Regions (Central Asia), at this time under Mongol dominion. ↩

26. 色目 – sèmù. Literally colored eyes. The Yuan dynasty’s classification for peoples of Central and Western Asia, ranked above the Han in the Mongol social hierarchy. ↩

27. 光明顶 – Guāngmíng Dǐng. Bright Summit, the headquarters of the Ming Order atop the Kunlun Mountains. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

28. 殷野王 – Yīn Yěwáng. Yin Yewang, son of Yin Tianzheng the Eagle King, and father of Yin Li. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

29. 香主 – xiāngzhǔ. Incense Master, a rank within the Ming Order, the head of a local chapter or hall. ↩

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