The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 28 – Part 4

Jinhua Popo laughed. “Good, good, good!” She managed only those three words before a violent fit of coughing seized her. Zhu'er handed her a pill, which Jinhua Popo took and swallowed. She panted for a breath, then without warning both palms shot out, one pressed against Zhou Zhiruo's chest, the other against the small of her back, sandwiching her body flat between the two palms. Where the palms made contact were vital acupoints,¹ any one of which could prove fatal.

The move was bizarre in the extreme. Zhou Zhiruo’s skill was still shallow, though she had indeed received a portion of Miejue Shitai’s² true teaching. She had never expected to find her front and back vital acupoints seized so inexplicably, and the fright drained the colour from her face. She could not even speak. Jinhua Popo said grimly, “Miss Zhou, you are a most unimpressive zhangmen.³ Could your respected shifu truly have entrusted the Emei Order’s leadership to such a delicate young girl? I suspect you are nothing but hot air.”

Zhou Zhiruo steadied herself and thought, With a single burst of neili⁴ through her palms, she could shatter my heart-vein this instant and kill me on the spot. But how can I disgrace Shifu’s honour? The mere thought of her shifu filled her with a hundredfold courage. She raised her left hand and said, “This is the iron finger ring of the Emei Order’s zhangmen. Our late shifu placed it on my hand herself. How can there be any falsehood in that?”

Jinhua Popo⁵ laughed. “Just now your shijie⁶ said that the Emei Order is a great faction of the wulin.⁷ That much is true enough. But with so paltry a skill, can you lead such a faction? I suggest you do as you are told, like a good girl.” Zhou Zhiruo said, “Jinhua Popo, although our late shifu has passed into nirvana, the Emei Order is not destroyed because of it. I am in your hands. Kill me if you wish. But if you mean to coerce me into something I should not do, forget it. When our Order fell into the court’s treachery and was imprisoned in a tall tower, did a single disciple submit? I, Zhou Zhiruo, am young and weak, but having accepted this heavy responsibility, I know its burden, and I long ago set life and death aside.”

Zhang Wuji saw that the vital acupoints of her chest and back were both pinned beneath Jinhua Popo’s palms, her life hanging by a thread, yet still she remained defiant. He feared that if Jinhua Popo flew into a rage she would take her life on the spot, and in his alarm he was about to leap out to save her. But Zhao Min had already divined his intention. She caught his right arm and gave it a gentle shake, meaning: not yet.

Jinhua Popo gave a loud laugh. “Miejue Shitai was not entirely wrong in her judgement, after all. Your little zhangmen’s martial skill is weak, but her spirit is strong. Yes, very well. Weak skills can be trained up, but ‘the mountains and rivers may change, yet a person’s nature stays fixed.’” In truth, Zhou Zhiruo was so frightened at this moment that her wits had scattered, but thinking of her shifu’s solemn charge as she lay dying, she could only steel herself and stand unbending.

The Emei disciples had originally looked down on Zhou Zhiruo, but seeing her disregard personal grudges and step forward to defend Ding Minjun, and now witnessing her not yield the Order’s honour in the slightest even under threat from a formidable foe, they all felt a surge of respect for her. Jingxuan Shitai gave her jian a flourish and uttered several whistled signals. The Emei disciples spread out in an instant, each drawing a weapon, and formed a ring around the pavilion.

Jinhua Popo laughed. “What now?” Jingxuan Shitai said, “Popo has seized the Emei Order’s zhangmen. What is your intention?” Jinhua Popo coughed several times. “You wish to overwhelm me with numbers? Heh. Under my gaze, even ten times as many would make no difference.” Suddenly she released Zhou Zhiruo. Her form blurred, and she closed straight in on Jingxuan, her index and middle fingers digging toward her eyes. Jingxuan hastily whipped her jian back to slash at both arms, but a muffled grunt sounded and a fellow shimei⁸ beside her had already crumpled to the ground. Jinhua Popo openly attacked Jingxuan, yet her left foot kicked an Emei disciple in the acupoints at the waist.

Her figure spun in a whirl around the pavilion, her broad sleeves flying. Occasionally a cough punctuated the air. The Emei disciples thrust with their jian in unison, yet not a single blade so much as grazed her clothing. Already seven of the men and women disciples lay on the ground, their acupoints struck. Her acupoint-striking technique was utterly bizarre. Those who were hit cried out in loud anguish. The desolate ruined garden rang with their piteous wailing, rising and falling, chilling to hear.

Jinhua Popo clapped her hands together and returned to the pavilion. “Miss Zhou, how do the Emei Order’s martial arts compare with mine, Jinhua Popo?” Zhou Zhiruo said, “Our Order’s martial arts are naturally superior to Popo’s. Years ago, Popo was defeated at the point of our late shifu’s jian. Have you forgotten?” Jinhua Popo said angrily, “That old nun Miejue relied on nothing but the sharpness of her treasured jian. What does that prove?”

Zhou Zhiruo said, “Popo, speak with your conscience. If our late shifu and Popo had fought bare-handed, who would have won?”

Jinhua Popo was silent for a long moment. “I do not know. I came to Dadu⁹ today precisely to learn whether your respected shifu or I was the stronger. Alas! Now that Miejue Shitai has passed into nirvana, the wulin has lost one of its finest. Those who came before will not be seen again, and those who come after will not match her. The Emei Order will decline from this day forth.”

The seven stricken Emei disciples cried out without ceasing, as if to underscore Jinhua Popo’s words. Jingxuan and the senior disciples pressed and rubbed their acupoints to restore the flow of blood, but to no effect. It seemed that only Jinhua Popo herself could release them.

Zhang Wuji had once treated many martial artists injured by Jinhua Popo’s hands, and knew how mercilessly the old woman struck. Her cruelty in combat was rare even in the jianghu.¹⁰ He was minded to go out and save them, but a second thought gave him pause: That would help Miss Zhou, but it would offend Zhu’er.¹¹ My cousin is not only kind to me, she is my own flesh and blood. How can I favour one over the other?

Jinhua Popo said, “Miss Zhou, do you concede?” Zhou Zhiruo steeled herself and said, “Our Order’s martial arts are deep as the sea and cannot be mastered in haste. We are still young, and at present I am naturally no match for Popo. But my future progress is without limit.” Jinhua Popo laughed. “Excellent, excellent! Then Jinhua Popo shall take her leave. When your martial arts have become limitless, you may come and release their acupoints yourself.” With that she took Zhu’er’s hand and turned to go.

Zhou Zhiruo thought of her fellow disciples’ suffering. Even a moment or two would be unbearable, and once Jinhua Popo left, they might well cry themselves to death from the agony. She called out hastily, “Popo, wait. These shijie and shixiong¹² of mine, please release them.” Jinhua Popo said, “Releasing them is easy enough. From this day forth, wherever Jinhua Popo and my disciple go, the Emei Order’s disciples shall clear the path.”

Zhou Zhiruo thought, I have only just taken up the zhangmenship, and already I face such an adversary. If I agree to this, how can the Emei Order hold its head in the wulin? Would not the entire Order be ruined in my hands?

Seeing her hesitate, Jinhua Popo smiled. “If you are unwilling to lower the Emei Order’s honour, so be it. Lend me the Heavenly Jian¹³ for a time, and I will release your fellow disciples.” Zhou Zhiruo said, “The disciples of our Order fell into the court’s treachery and were imprisoned in a tall tower. How could the Heavenly Jian still be in our hands?”

Jinhua Popo had already anticipated this, and her request to borrow the jian was no more than a forlorn hope. Even so, a flicker of disappointment crossed her face at Zhou Zhiruo’s words. She said sharply, “If you wish to preserve the Emei Order’s honour, you will not preserve your own life…” She drew a pill from her robe. “This is a poison that severs the intestines and splits the heart. Swallow it, and I will save them.”

Zhou Zhiruo remembered her shifu’s instructions, and her heart broke within her. She thought, Shifu told me to deceive Young Master Zhang. I could never bring myself to do such a thing. Better to die at once and be done with it, a clean end to all the torment. Her hands trembled as she took the pill. Jingxuan cried, “Zhou shimei, you must not swallow it!”

Seeing the danger, Zhang Wuji was about to leap out and stop her, when Zhao Min whispered in his ear, “Fool! It’s fake. Not real poison.” In the instant Zhang Wuji hesitated, Zhou Zhiruo had already placed the pill in her mouth and swallowed.

Jingxuan and the others shouted and were about to rush forward and fight Jinhua Popo. Jinhua Popo said, “Very good, you have backbone! As for this poison, its effects will not manifest for some time. Miss Zhou, you follow me and do as you are told. If this old woman is pleased, she may just give you the antidote.” With that she walked over to each of the acupoint-stricken Emei disciples and tapped them several times. At once their pain ceased and they stopped crying out, though their limbs remained numb and they could not yet move. Those who had watched Zhou Zhiruo take poison to save them were filled with gratitude, and some said, “Many thanks, zhangmen!”

Jinhua Popo took Zhou Zhiruo’s hand and said softly, “Good child, come with me. Popo will not make things difficult for you.” She reasoned that with Miejue Shitai dead and the Heavenly Jian no longer in the Emei Order’s hands, the shame of her defeat at Miejue’s hands could never be avenged. She would take the Emei zhangmen captive and release her at some later date. That would be satisfaction enough for the bitterness in her breast.

Before Zhou Zhiruo could reply, she felt an enormous force pulling at her, and her body rose into the air against her will.

Jingxuan cried, “Zhou shimei…” She rushed forward to intercept her. From the side, a streak of finger-wind shot toward her: Zhu’er, striking from the flank. Jingxuan raised her left palm to deflect, not realising that Zhu’er’s move was a feint. With a sharp crack, Ding Minjun took a slap across the face. This “point east, strike west” was precisely Jinhua Popo’s martial art. Zhu’er gave a merry giggle, then swept over the wall and was gone.

Zhang Wuji said, “After them!” One hand gripping Zhao Min’s, the other carrying Xiaozhao,¹⁴ all three vaulted the wall at once.

Jingxuan and the others were startled to discover that three more people had been hiding in the tall grass. But Jinhua Popo and Zhang Wuji’s qinggong¹⁵ was of the highest order. By the time the Emei disciples climbed the wall, all six had already vanished into the darkness, their destination unknown.

Footnotes

1. 穴位 – xuéwèi. Acupoints. Points on the body’s meridian network through which qi flows, and which martial artists can strike to incapacitate or kill. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 灭绝师太 – Mièjué Shītài. Her dharma-name, meaning “Extinction” or “Annihilation.” Zhangmen of the Emei Order. 师太 (shītài) is an honorific for a senior Buddhist nun. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. The head of a martial School or Order. Lit. “gate-keeper.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 内力 – nèilì. Internal power; the kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 金花婆婆 – Jīnhuā Pópó. Literally “Golden Flower Granny.” A mysterious old woman who travels with a walking stick, later revealed to have deeper connections to the story. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 师姊 – shījiě. Female senior fellow disciple. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Jiě means older sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally “martial forest.” The community of martial artists and their schools. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 师妹 – shīmèi. Female junior fellow disciple. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Mèi means younger sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 大都 – Dàdū. The Yuan Dynasty’s capital, present-day Beijing. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 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. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 蛛儿 – Zhū’ér. The nickname of Yin Li, daughter of Yin Yewang and Zhang Wuji’s cousin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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. 倚天剑 – Yǐtiān Jiàn. The Heavenly Jian, “Heaven-Reliant Sword.” One of the two legendary weapons forged from the Heavy Iron Sword, said to contain a martial arts manual. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 小昭 – Xiǎozhāo. A young maidservant who attaches herself to Zhang Wuji. Her true parentage is a secret of considerable importance. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 轻功 – qīnggōng. Lightness skill; the martial art of agility and levitation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩