The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 28 – Part 11

The two of them stood facing each other in silence. After a while Xie Xun asked, “How did you find out where I was that day? Why would you never say plainly? Was it someone from the Wudang Order who told you?”

Golden Flower Granny said, “How could the Wudang Order know? Zhang Cuishan and his wife chose to cut their own throats rather than reveal your hiding place, however much the other schools pressed them. None of the Wudang disciples knew. Very well, today I have no more to hide from you. In the Western Regions I ran into a man called Wu Lie. He was a descendant of Wu Santong, of the Dali Duan clan.¹ By a tangle of chance, I overheard him speaking with his daughter and caught a slip. I tortured it out of him.”

Xie Xun was silent for a long while before he said, “That man surnamed Wu, he met my Wuji boy, didn’t he? I expect he tricked the child into telling him the secret.”

Zhang Wuji, hearing this, was overcome with shame. He remembered how, years ago at Zhu Family Manor, he had been taken in by the schemes of Zhu Changling and his daughter Zhu Jiuzhen,² who had wrung the truth from him with cunning. If his sworn father were to fall into villainous hands because of that, he could never atone for it in ten thousand deaths. His sworn father was blind, yet he had guessed at the affair as though he had seen it with his own eyes.

Xie Xun asked again, “The six schools besieged the Ming Order. That was no small matter. What became of our Order in the end?”

Golden Flower Granny said, “The rise and fall of the Ming Order has had nothing to do with this old woman for a long time. That day on Bright Peak, everyone there turned against me. You have quite forgotten, but I remember every detail clearly. Only Order Leader Yang and you, Third Brother Xie, were ever truly kind to me, and I have not forgotten that either.”

Xie Xun said, “Ah. Private grudges are small. Defending the Order is great. Lady Han, your heart is perhaps too narrow.”

Golden Flower Granny said angrily, “You are a man, a true husband. I am only a woman of petty spirit. That year I broke from the Order and swore to have nothing more to do with the Ming Order. If I had not, how would Hu Qingniu have treated me as an outsider? Why did he insist that I rejoin the Ming Order before he would treat Big Brother Silver Leaf’s poison? Hu Qingniu was killed by my hand, and the Purple-Robed Dragon King had long since broken one of the Ming Order’s gravest laws. What tie could I still have with the Order?”

Xie Xun shook his head. “Lady Han, I understand what is in your heart. You mean to borrow my Dragon-Slaying Dao and say it is to use against the Emei Order, but in truth you mean to use it against Yang Xiao and Fan Yao. What you have never stopped thinking of is the secret passage into Bright Peak. You meant to seize the Heavenly Jian for the same purpose. All the more reason I cannot lend it to you.”

Golden Flower Granny was silent. After a while, a few coughs escaped her, and she said, “Third Brother Xie, back then, where did our martial arts stand, yours and mine?”

Xie Xun said, “The Four Guardian Kings,³ each had his own strength.”

“And today, with your eyes destroyed, how do you stand against me now?”

Xie Xun said proudly, “You mean to take the dao by force, is that? Xie Xun, with the Dragon-Slaying Dao in his hand, can make up for a ruined pair of eyes.” He breathed out a long sigh, stepped forward, and fixed his sightless eyes upon Golden Flower Granny. His bearing was fierce, his presence terrible.

Yin Li shrank back in fear. Golden Flower Granny stood hunched over her staff, coughing now and then, looking for all the world as though a single blow from Xie Xun would cleave her in two. Yet she did not move, and seemed to take no account of him at all. Zhang Wuji had seen her fight more than once. She was uncannily swift, with a different kind of strangeness from Wei Yixiao, something ghostlike and uncanny, like a spirit or a demon. Now she faced Xie Xun. He was taut as a bowstring, coiled and ready to strike. She stood as though every move were already decided, at ease and unhurried. Zhang Wuji thought to himself that she ranked above his grandfather, his sworn father and Wei the Bat King, and her martial arts must be extraordinarily formidable. He could not help but worry for Xie Xun.

A keen wind whistled about them, and from far away came the murmur of waves against the shore. In the menace of the moment lay a further desolation, a cold sorrow. The two faced each other, scarcely more than ten feet apart, and neither moved first.

After a long while Xie Xun spoke. “Lady Han, if today you mean to force my hand, you will have broken the oath we four Guardian Kings swore when we pledged brotherhood, to share fortune and calamity, to live and die together. Xie Xun finds it hard to bear.”

Golden Flower Granny said, “Third Brother Xie, your heart has always been soft. I truly never expected that so many famed heroes and brave men in the wulin⁴ were all killed by your hand alone.”

Xie Xun sighed. “I was consumed with vengeance for my parents, my wife, my child. I thought of nothing else. The thing I most regret in my life is that I unleashed the Seven-Injury Fist⁵ thirteen times in succession and killed Divine Monk Kongjian⁶ of the Shaolin Order.”

Golden Flower Granny started. “Divine Monk Kongjian was truly killed by you? When did you master so fearsome a skill?” She had been confident she could deal with Xie Xun, but only now did fear creep in.

Xie Xun said, “Do not be afraid. Divine Monk Kongjian stood and took my blows without striking back. He meant to use the vast and boundless dharma to redeem a demon like me from the outer path.”

Golden Flower Granny snorted. “There you have it. This old woman is no match for Divine Monk Kongjian. Thirteen blows killed him. You would not need nine or ten to finish me off.”

Xie Xun stepped back. His voice softened suddenly. “Lady Han, you were very good to me in the old days on Bright Peak. One day your elder brother fell ill, and my wife was still weak from childbirth and could not rise from bed. You tended me for more than a month, sparing no effort. I have been grateful for it ever since.” He patted the grey cotton gown he wore. “I live on this island in beast-skin. You sewed me this gown, and inside and out, it fits perfectly. It shows that the oath we swore on Bright Peak still lives in you. Go now. We need never meet again. I ask only one thing: send word to my Wuji boy and bid him come to this island to see me once. His elder brother would be deeply in your debt.”

Golden Flower Granny smiled bitterly. “You still remember those old ties. I will not hide it from you. Ever since Big Brother Silver Leaf died, I have cared little for the affairs of this world. Only a few debts of vengeance remain unsettled, and I cannot let go and follow Big Brother Silver Leaf to the grave. Third Brother Xie, of all the people on Bright Peak, however skilled their martial arts or sharp their schemes, your younger sister took no account of any of them. Only you, Third Brother Xie, did she look upon differently. Do you know why?”

Xie Xun raised his head to the sky and thought for a long while, then shook his head. “Xie Xun is a common and mediocre man, unworthy of such regard from a worthy sister.”

Golden Flower Granny walked a few steps forward and sat down slowly upon a great rock. “In the old days on Bright Peak, only Order Leader Yang and you, Third Brother Xie, were pleasant to my eyes. When your sister married Silver Leaf Master, only you two did not blame me for choosing the wrong man.”

Xie Xun sat down too. “Big Brother Han was no member of our Order, yet he was a hero indeed. His martial arts may not have equalled mine, but his courage did not fall short of mine. I have always admired him. That a hero should die young is cause for grief. That year the brothers raised such objections. Their hearts were narrow, I fear. Ah. The six schools besieged Bright Peak. I wonder whether all the brothers escaped unharmed.”

Golden Flower Granny said, “Third Brother Xie, you are on a distant island, yet your heart hangs upon the Central Plains and your old brothers. A man’s life passes in a few decades, like the blinking of an eye. Why spend it always thinking of others?”

The two were now no more than a few feet apart, close enough to hear each other’s breath. Xie Xun heard Golden Flower Granny cough once with every few words, and said, “That year you froze your lungs in the cold pool,⁷ and the ailment has plagued you ever since. It never healed?”

Golden Flower Granny said, “When the weather turns cold, the coughing worsens. I have been coughing for decades. I am used to it by now. Third Brother Xie, I hear your breath is uneven. Did the Seven-Injury Fist damage your internal organs when you trained it? You must take care of yourself.”

Xie Xun said, “I am grateful for my worthy sister’s concern.” He raised his head abruptly and called to Yin Li, “A Li, come here.”

Yin Li walked to his side and called out, “Grandfather Xie!”

Xie Xun said, “Strike me with your full strength. A single finger.”

Yin Li was taken aback. “I dare not.”

Xie Xun laughed. “Your Thousand Spider Ten-Thousand Venom Hand⁸ cannot harm me. Put your strength into it. I only want to test your neili.”

Yin Li still refused. “I dare not, Grandfather Xie.” Then she added, “Grandfather Xie, since you and Granny were sworn brother and sister back then, what could there be between you that cannot be talked through? Must you fight over this dao?”

Xie Xun smiled sadly. “Just try striking me with one finger. There is nothing to fear!”

Yin Li had no choice. She took out a handkerchief, wrapped her right index finger in it, and pressed it against Xie Xun’s shoulder. At once she gave a sharp cry, “Aiya!”, and was flung backwards, flying over ten feet before she landed on the ground with a thud, as though every bone in her body had been shattered.

Golden Flower Granny showed no change of expression. Slowly she said, “Third Brother Xie, what a cruel heart you have. Afraid I might gain a helper, you struck first to remove her.”

Xie Xun did not answer. After a long silence he said, “The girl has a good heart. She used only two or three tenths of her strength, and she wrapped her finger in cloth so as not to channel the Thousand Spider venom into me. Very good, very good. Had she not done so, the venom’s backflow would have reached her heart, and she would be dead by now.”

Zhang Wuji, hearing these words, broke out in a cold sweat. His sworn father had plainly said he was testing Yin Li’s neili, but if she had struck with her full strength, would she not have been killed on the spot? The Ming Order’s people were always ruthless, and for all his sworn father’s goodness, he was no exception. Yet Zhang Wuji did not know that Xie Xun and Golden Flower Granny had known each other for years and understood one another’s hearts. Once the few civil words were done, there would be a battle without quarter, and Golden Flower Granny with Yin Li as a helper would be greatly to his disadvantage. That was why he had used a trick to remove her first.

Xie Xun said, “A Li, why do you treat me with such kindness?”

Yin Li said, “You… you are his sworn father. And… and I came here for his sake. In this world, only you and I still carry him in our hearts.”

Xie Xun uttered a soft “Ah.” “I did not expect you to care so much for my Wuji boy. I nearly took your life. Put your ear here.” Yin Li struggled to her feet and crawled slowly to his side. Xie Xun brought his lips to her ear and said, “I will teach you a set of neigong⁹ heart-methods. I realised them on Ice and Fire Island,¹⁰ and they may be called the sum of all my martial learning.” Without waiting for Yin Li to answer, he recited the heart-methods from beginning to end. Yin Li could not grasp them all at once, but committed them to memory with all her mind. Xie Xun, fearing she would not remember, repeated them twice more, then asked, “Have you got them?”

Yin Li said, “I remember them all.”

Xie Xun said, “After five years of practice you will have made some progress. Do you know why I teach you these skills?”

Yin Li burst into tears. “I… I know. But… but I cannot.”

Footnotes

1. 武三通 – Wǔ Sāntōng. A descendant of the Dali Duan clan, ancestor of Wu Lie. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 朱家庄 – Zhūjiā Zhuāng. The Zhu Family Manor, where Zhu Changling and his daughter Zhu Jiuzhen once deceived Zhang Wuji into revealing his whereabouts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 四大法王 – Sì Dà Fǎwáng. The Four Guardian Kings of the Ming Order, the four most senior martial artists beneath the Order Leader. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 武林 – wǔlín. Lit. martial forest. The community of martial artists and their code. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 七伤拳 – Qīshāng Quán. The Seven-Injury Fist. A devastating fist technique of the Kongtong School that channels seven different types of force in a single strike, each damaging a different internal organ. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 空见 – Kōngjiàn. A Divine Monk of the Shaolin Order, renowned for his mastery of the Diamond Body and his compassion. He was killed by Xie Xun with the Seven-Injury Fist. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 碧水寒潭 – bìshuǐ hán tán. Lit. cold pool of jade-green water. The frigid pool in which Golden Flower Granny once trained, severely damaging her lungs. ↩

8. 千蛛万毒手 – Qiānzhū Wàndú Shǒu. The Thousand Spider Ten-Thousand Venom Hand. A venomous martial art that draws the toxins of spiders into the practitioner’s fingertips. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 内功 – nèigōng. Internal cultivation. The discipline of refining one’s qi through meditative and breathing practice. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 冰火岛 – Bīnghuǒ Dǎo. Ice and Fire Island, the volcanic island in the northern sea where Xie Xun, Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu were stranded for ten years, and where Zhang Wuji was born. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩