The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 27 – Part 4

He Biweng,¹ Sun Sanhui,² and Li Sicui³ had had their acupoints sealed, and could not free themselves in any hurry. The three of them lay hidden in Lu Zhangke's⁴ room, and none of the others dared burst in on their own. Who would have guessed that the warriors sent out by the Prince of Ruyang were searching Wan'an Monastery⁵ high and low for the Prince's beloved consort, finding no trace of her? Someone recalled Lu Zhangke's well-known weakness for wine and women. Yet the men had always stood in awe of him, and though they suspected the consort's disappearance was his doing, who among them dared pluck a whisker from the tiger's jaw?

After a long wait, Chief Steward Ha⁶, who commanded the warriors, conceived a plan. He ordered a low-ranking soldier to go knock on Lu Zhangke’s door. Lu Zhangke’s status was so lofty that even if he flew into a rage, surely he would not punish a nameless foot soldier. And even if he killed the man outright, it would be no great loss.

The soldier knocked several times. No answer came from within.

Chief Steward Ha set his jaw and told the soldier to push the door open and have a look. One look was enough: He Biweng, Sun Sanhui and Li Sicui lay sprawled on the floor. In truth, He Biweng had been channelling his neigong⁷ to force open his sealed acupoints, and had already unblocked three or four parts in ten. When Chief Steward Ha helped clear the rest, he could move at will once more. He Biweng was furious. He demanded to know where Lu Zhangke and Bitter Dhūta⁸ had gone, and was told they had entered the high tower. He at once freed Sun Sanhui and Li Sicui from their acupoint seals, then led the armed men in surrounding the tower. He raised his voice and bellowed for Bitter Dhūta to come down and fight to the death.

Fan Yao⁹ was startled. Fight to the death it shall be. Does he think I, Fan Yao, am afraid of him? Only those stinking monks and old nuns have had their antidote for too short a time. Their strength will not return in a moment or two. And this He Biweng has already heard everything I said to Lu Zhangke. Even if I kill the old fool now, I cannot silence him. What am I to do? He was at his wits’ end. From below came He Biweng’s voice: “You blasted Dhûta!¹⁰ If you will not come down, then I shall come up!”

Fan Yao turned back, bundled Lu Zhangke and Han Ji¹¹ together in a quilt, carried them to the tower’s edge, and held the pair high above the railing. He called down, “He, you old fool! So much as take one step towards the tower door and I shall drop this lust-crazed deer of yours!”

The warriors below held their torches high, bathing the grounds in a light as bright as day. But the pagoda was too tall for the firelight to reach its upper storeys. All the same, from that distance the faces of Lu Zhangke and Han Ji could still be made out, dim and shadowy.

He Biweng was horrified. “Shige,¹² Shige! Are you all right?” He called again and again, but no answer came from Lu Zhangke. Assuming Bitter Dhūta had already done for his shixiong,¹³ he cried out in grief and fury, “You thieving Dhûta! You have murdered my shige. I shall not rest until we have settled this!”

Fan Yao unsealed Lu Zhangke’s mute acupoint. Lu Zhangke at once broke into a stream of curses: “You thieving Dhûta! You inside-outside traitor, you spy! I’ll have you sliced into a thousand pieces…” Fan Yao let him curse for a few breaths, then sealed the mute acupoint once more. He Biweng, relieved that his shixiong was still alive, dared not approach the tower door for fear Fan Yao would cast Lu Zhangke down.

So the standoff dragged on. He Biweng never ventured closer. Fan Yao wanted nothing more than to spin out the time. Every moment gained was a moment to the good. He stood at the railing, laughing loudly. “He, you old fool! Your shixiong let lust override his courage. He stole the Prince’s consort clean out of the temple. I caught the pair of them red-handed. And you still mean to shield him? Chief Steward, seize this old villain at once! He and his shidi have risen in rebellion. Their crime begs execution. Take him, and the Prince will surely reward you handsomely.”

Chief Steward Ha cast a sidelong glance at He Biweng. He wanted to act, yet dared not. Then, hearing Bitter Dhūta speak at last, he was startled, though he had seen plainly enough with his own eyes that Lu Zhangke and Han Ji were wrapped together in a single quilt. And his mind was already half-made-up. He believed nine parts in ten. He called aloud, “Master Ku, pray come down. Let us go together before the Prince and sort out right from wrong. You three are all esteemed seniors. I would not presume to offend any of you.”

Fan Yao, that fearless soul, thought that going back to the Prince’s residence to sort things out would be fine enough. By the time right and wrong were cleared up, the heroes in the tower would have shaken off the poison. He called back at once, “Excellent, excellent! I have been meaning to claim my reward from the Prince. Chief Steward, you keep a close watch on He, the old fool. Do not let him slip away.”

At that moment came the sound of hooves. A single rider galloped into the temple grounds and reined up before the high tower. The warriors bowed in unison and cried, “Young Prince!” Fan Yao gazed down from the tower. The rider wore a golden hair-crown that gleamed in the torchlight and rode a tall white horse in a brocade gown. It was none other than the Prince of Ruyang’s heir, Wang Baobao,¹⁴ born Köke Temür.

Wang Baobao demanded sharply, “Where is Han Ji? The Prince is furious and has sent me in person to look into the matter.” Chief Steward Ha stepped forward and reported that Lu Zhangke had spirited the consort away, and that she was now held by Bitter Dhūta. He Biweng broke in urgently, “Young Prince, do not listen to his nonsense! That Dhûta is a spy. He is framing my shige…” Wang Baobao’s brows rose. “All of you, come down and speak!”

Fan Yao had been in the Prince’s residence long enough to know that Wang Baobao was shrewd and capable, his father’s equal in every way. His tricks might fool the others, but they would not fool this one. The moment he descended the tower and Wang Baobao put two and two together, the flaw in the story would be laid bare. The Prince would order his warriors to attack. He Biweng alone would be no easy foe. Escaping himself might not be hard, but the heroes imprisoned in the tower would be beyond saving. He called in a loud voice, “Young Prince, I have captured Lu Zhangke, but his shidi hates me to the bone. The moment I come down, he will kill me.”

Wang Baobao said, “Come down quickly. Master He will not harm you.”

Fan Yao shook his head and said clearly, “I am safer up here. Young Prince, I, Bitter Dhūta, have spent my whole life without a word. Today I am driven by necessity to speak. It is all because of my loyal devotion to the Prince. If you do not believe me, then I, Bitter Dhūta, shall throw myself from this tower and dash my brains out before you.”

Wang Baobao heard that his words rang hollow, more lie than truth, and plainly meant to stall. He asked Chief Steward Ha in a low voice, “What is he after? Why does he delay? Is he waiting for someone to arrive?” Chief Steward Ha said, “I do not know…” He Biweng broke in, “Young Prince, that thieving Dhûta has stolen my shige’s antidote. He means to free the rebels locked in the tower.” Wang Baobao understood at once. “Master Ku, I recognise your merit. Come down quickly and you shall be richly rewarded.”

Fan Yao said, “Lu Zhangke kicked me twice. My leg bones are near shattered. I cannot move at all. Young Prince, pray give me a moment to channel my neili and tend to the injury, and I shall come down at once.” Wang Baobao barked, “Chief Steward Ha, send men up at once and carry Master Ku down.” Fan Yao shouted, “No, no! The moment anyone moves me, my legs are done for.”

Wang Baobao had no further doubt. With Han Ji and Lu Zhangke wrapped together in a single quilt, even if nothing had passed between them, his father could never take the consort back. He said in a low voice, “Chief Steward Ha, set the pagoda ablaze. Post archers all around. Whoever leaps from the tower, shoot them down without exception.” Chief Steward Ha obeyed and passed the order. At once the bowmen bent their bows and nocked their arrows, surrounding the pagoda on every side, whilst other soldiers fetched kindling and fire.

He Biweng was aghast. “Young Prince, my shige is up there!” Wang Baobao said coolly, “That Dhûta cannot wait on the tower for ever. The moment the fire is lit, he will come down of his own accord.” He Biweng cried, “And if he throws my shige down? Young Prince, you must not set this fire!” Wang Baobao gave a snort and took no notice.

Before long the soldiers had fetched their kindling and tinder and set the base of the tower alight.

He Biweng was a man of great standing in the wulin,¹⁵ invited into the Prince’s residence as an honoured guest and long treated with respect. Yet today, not only had he fallen for Bitter Dhūta’s schemes time and again, even the Young Prince treated him as nothing. With his shixiong in peril by the minute, he cared no longer for Young Prince or Old Prince. He raised his twin crane-brush pens and lunged at two soldiers tending the fire. Two sharp cracks rang out, and the pair went flying.

Wang Baobao was furious. “Master He, are you joining the rebellion too?” He Biweng said, “Order your men to stop the fire and I shall not interfere.” Wang Baobao shouted, “Light it!” He waved his left hand. From behind him leapt five red-clad foreign monks, who seized torches from the soldiers and hurled them at the kindling below. The dry wood caught at once and roared into a great blaze. He Biweng, desperate, snatched a long spear from a soldier’s hand and beat at the burning timber.

Wang Baobao barked, “Seize him!” The five red-clad monks each drew their monk-knives and closed in around He Biweng at once.

He Biweng, furious, flung aside the spear and reached for the weapon in the hand of the monk on his left. That monk was no weakling. He flipped his monk-knife and hacked down at He Biweng’s shoulder. He Biweng had barely dodged when, behind him, steel whistled through the air. Two more monk-knives fell on him at once.

Among Wang Baobao’s retainers were eighteen martial artists of rare skill, known as the Eighteen Vajra,¹⁶ arrayed as five bladesmen, five swordsmen, four staff-monks and four cymbal-monks. These five were the Diamond Bladesmen. Alone, each fell far short of He Biweng’s standard. But the five bladesmen fought as one, covering attack and defence in turn. For all He Biweng’s mastery, he had been struck and wounded by Zhang Wuji the day before, his neili badly depleted. And with the flames climbing higher by the moment and his shixiong in desperate peril above, he could not keep his mind steady. Victory eluded him.

Wang Baobao’s soldiers piled on more wood and the fire raged ever fiercer. The pagoda was built of brick and timber. Under that great fire the lower storeys began to crack and burn.

Fan Yao abandoned Lu Zhangke and dashed to the chamber where the Wudang heroes were held. “The Mongols¹⁷ are burning the tower! Has your neili returned?” Song Yuanqiao, Yu Lianzhou and the rest sat cross-legged in cultivation, their faces set in concentration. Not one answered. Each had reached a critical moment in recovering his strength. Several of the guards stationed over the heroes rushed in to interfere. Fan Yao seized them one by one and hurled each from the tower, to be dashed to death on the stones below. The remainder fled through smoke and flame, scrambling down.

Footnotes

1. 鹤笔翁 – Hè Bǐwēng. One of the Twin Xuanming Elders, wielding the Crane-Brush Palm. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 孙三毁 – Sūn Sānhuǐ. One of the Eight Heroes of the Divine Arrow in service to the Prince of Ruyang. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 李四摧 – Lǐ Sìcuī. One of the Eight Heroes of the Divine Arrow in service to the Prince of Ruyang. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 鹿杖客 – Lù Zhàngkè. One of the Twin Xuanming Elders, wielding the Deer-Horn Staff. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 万安寺 – Wàn’ān Sì. Wan’an Monastery in Beijing, where the Yuan court imprisoned the masters of the six great schools. ↩

6. 哈总管 – Hā Zǒngguǎn. Chief Steward Ha, commander of the Prince of Ruyang’s warriors at Wan’an Monastery. ↩

7. 内功 – nèigōng. Internal cultivation; the cultivation of inner strength through breathing, meditation, and qi circulation. Distinct from external techniques. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 苦头陀 – Kǔtóutuó. Bitter Dhūta. A monk at the Prince of Ruyang’s residence. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 范遥 – Fàn Yáo. His name meaning “Distant.” The Bright Right Messenger of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 头陀 – tóutuó. Dhûta; an ascetic monk who practises austere disciplines. ↩

11. 韩姬 – Hán Jī. A consort of the Prince of Ruyang, coveted by Lu Zhangke. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 师哥 – shīgē. The colloquial form of shixiong; male senior fellow disciple of the same shifu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 师兄 – shīxiōng. Male senior fellow disciple of the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Xiōng means older brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 王保保 – Wáng Bǎobǎo. Born Köke Temür, the heir of the Prince of Ruyang and an able military commander. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

16. 十八金刚 – Shíbā Jīngāng. The Eighteen Vajra, eighteen elite martial artists in the service of the Prince of Ruyang, arrayed by weapon: five dao, five jian, four staff and four cymbal. ↩

17. 鞑子 – dázǐ. A derogatory Han-Chinese term for the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty. ↩