The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 27 – Part 7

Zhang Wuji lunged forward and channelled the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth,¹ striking towards her lower back with both palms. He had not reckoned that Miejue Shitai² had long since made up her mind to die, and would sooner perish than accept the slightest favour from the Ming Order.³ The moment she felt his palms approaching, she summoned every last dreg of strength and struck back with a reverse blow. The two palms collided with a thunderous crash. Zhang Wuji's palm-force was redirected by her strike, and with a sharp crack, Miejue Shitai fell heavily to the ground. Her spine snapped in several places at once. Zhang Wuji, in turn, took the full impact of her blow, amplified by the momentum of her fall. Blood churned in his chest. He staggered back several steps, his mind thrown into confusion. Miejue Shitai's last strike had been, plainly and deliberately, suicide.

Zhou Zhiruo threw herself upon her shifu’s body, crying, “Shifu, Shifu!” The remaining men and women disciples of the Emei Order⁴ crowded round their shifu in a turmoil of weeping. Miejue Shitai said, “Zhiruo, from this day forth you are the fourth-generation head of our Order. Whatever I have asked of you, you can… can you obey it all?” She strained to raise her voice so that every disciple might hear. Zhou Zhiruo wept and answered, “Yes, Shifu. Your disciple shall not forget.”

Miejue Shitai smiled faintly. “Then I can close my eyes in peace…” She saw Zhang Wuji step forward and reach for her wrist to take her pulse. Suddenly her right hand flipped out and seized his wrist in a vice. Her voice turned savage. “You lecherous heretic of the demonic cult, if you so much as lay a finger on my beloved disciple’s honour, I will haunt you as a demon and never let you…” The final syllable never left her lips. Her breath departed, yet her fingers did not loosen. Five of her nails dug into Zhang Wuji’s wrist and drew blood.

Fan Yao called out, “Everyone follow me! Rendezvous outside the west gate. If we dally any longer, the treacherous prince’s main army will be upon us.”

Zhang Wuji lifted Miejue Shitai’s body in his arms and said quietly, “Let us go.” Zhou Zhiruo gently peeled her shifu’s fingers from his wrist, took the body in her own arms, and walked towards the monastery gates without so much as a glance at Zhang Wuji. The Emei Order, still bearing their grudge against the Ming Order, refused to travel with the rest and struck off on their own.

By now the masters of the Kunlun, Kongtong and Huashan schools had already poured out in a swarm. Only the two Divine Monks of the Shaolin Order, Kongwen Great Master⁵ and Kongzhi Great Master, preserved the bearing befitting their seniority. They came forward, pressed their palms together, and offered Zhang Wuji their thanks. After exchanging courtesies with Song Yuanqiao,⁶ Yu Lianzhou and the rest, they filed out through the gate.

Zhang Wuji had exhausted nearly all his neili⁷ employing the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth to aid the six schools’ masters down the tower. His final exchange of palms with Miejue Shitai had dealt his vital energy a heavier blow still. He could barely walk. Mo Shenggu lifted him onto his back and carried him. Only then, silently cycling the Nine Yang Divine Skill,⁸ did his neili begin to gather strength again.

Dawn had broken by the time the heroes reached the west gate. They scattered the soldiers guarding the gate and rode several li⁹ out of the city before Yang Xiao arrived with a train of pack-mules and covered carts. He greeted the company with congratulations and thanks for their toil.

Kongwen Great Master said, “Had it not been for Order Leader Zhang and the efforts of you all, the fortunes of our six central-plain schools would be grim indeed. A great debt of gratitude cannot be repaid with words. The question now is what we ought to do next. We beg Order Leader Zhang’s instruction.” Zhang Wuji replied, “I am shallow in knowledge. What plans could I have? Let the abbot of Shaolin Monastery issue the orders.” Kongwen Great Master pressed him to take the lead, and Zhang Wuji pressed back.

Zhang Songxi said, “We are not far from the city. We have raised havoc enough today in the Tartars’ capital. Do you think the treacherous prince will let it rest? Once the fires at the prince’s mansion are put out, he will surely send troops in pursuit. We would do best to leave this place first and decide our course later.” He Taichong said, “If the treacherous prince sends men after us, all the better. We can rout them utterly and work off some of the spite we have swallowed these past months.” Zhang Songxi said, “Our gongfu is not yet restored. There is no urgency about killing Tartars. We had better withdraw first.”

Kongwen Great Master said, “Zhang the Fourth Xia speaks well. However many Tartars we struck down today, our own casualties have been considerable. Let us withdraw for the time being.” When the zhangmen of the Shaolin Order spoke, his weight carried differently. No one else raised objection. Kongwen Great Master asked further, “Zhang the Fourth Xia, where does your judgement counsel we take refuge?” Zhang Songxi said, “The Tartars will expect us to go either south or south-east. Let us do the opposite and head straight northwest. What do you all think?”

The company paused in surprise. Yang Xiao clapped his hands and said, “Zhang the Fourth Xia’s judgement is superb. The northwest is vast and thinly populated. Find any barren hill and you can hide there for a good while. The Tartars will never think to look.” The more they considered it, the more excellent Zhang Songxi’s counsel seemed. They turned their horses and rode due north.

After fifty-odd li the company halted in a valley to rest and eat. Yang Xiao had already procured provisions of every kind: dry rations, wine and meat, nothing wanting. As they talked through the manner of their escape, all agreed it had been the work of Zhang Wuji and Fan Yao alone. They spoke too of Miejue Shitai, a great xia¹⁰ of her generation, stern of temperament and feared by all, yet upright in conduct, unsullied in character, and peerless in martial skill. That she should have died beneath the pagoda at Wan’an Monastery was a grief every one of them felt.

Zhang Wuji, anxious for the Emei disciples, wondered whether they too had got clear. If any remained trapped, he must find a way to aid them. Wei Yixiao volunteered to scout. Before long he returned with word that the Emei company had taken temporary shelter in a secure place outside the city, and that he had found no sign of the Prince of Ruyang’s warriors in pursuit. Only then did Zhang Wuji set his mind at ease.

Kongwen Great Master spoke in a ringing voice, “This business of the villains’ poisoning has cost every one of us dearly. My shidi Kongxing fell to the Tartars’ hand. That vengeance cannot go unpaid. How we exact it, however, calls for long deliberation.” Kongzhi Great Master said, “Our six central-plain schools were formerly at enmity with the Ming Order. Yet Order Leader Zhang repaid resentment with virtue and struck out to save us instead. The old quarrel between the two sides is settled, root and branch. Henceforth let us join heart and strength and drive the barbarian hordes out.”

The company cried assent with one voice. Yet when it came to discussing how they might take their revenge, the several schools argued this way and that and could reach no firm conclusion. At last Kongwen said, “This is no matter for a single day’s deciding. Let us rest a few days and return to our respective homes. When we muster in force for vengeance, we shall have leisure to devise a sounder plan.” All nodded in agreement.

Zhang Wuji said, “My business here is done. Our Order still has affairs that require my attention, and I must return to Dadu.¹¹ I take my leave of you all with respect. Hereafter we shall stand shoulder to shoulder and fight the Tartars to the death.” The heroes cried as one, “Shoulder to shoulder! Fight the Tartars to the death!” Their shout shook the sky and rang off the valley walls. The company escorted them together to the valley mouth, where Zhang Wuji, Yang Xiao, Wei Yixiao and the rest bowed and parted, then spurred their horses south at a gallop.

Footnotes

1. 乾坤大挪移 – Qiánkūn Dà Nuóyí. Literally the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth. The supreme secret art of the Ming Order, capable of redirecting force, reversing qi flow, and manipulating the trajectory of attacks. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 师太 – shītài. Honorific title for a senior Buddhist nun. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 明教 – Míng Jiào. The Ming Order. A heterodox martial order whose teachings blend Zoroastrian and Manichaean elements with millenarian Buddhism. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 峨嵋派 – Éméi Pài. The Emei Order. A Buddhist martial order based on Mount Emei, founded by Guo Xiang. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 空闻 – Kōngwén. His name meaning “Empty Hearing”. ↩

6. 宋远桥 – Sòng Yuǎnqiáo. His name meaning “Distant Bridge”. ↩

7. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force. The kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 九阳神功 – Jiǔyáng Shéngōng. Literally Nine Yang Divine Skill. A legendary internal cultivation method emphasising pure yang energy, capable of granting extraordinary martial prowess. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

10. 侠 – xiá. A martial artist who upholds justice and protects the defenceless. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 大都 – Dàdū. The Yuan capital, present-day Beijing. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩