The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 29 – Part 3

Zhao Min hurls herself into the fray with suicidal moves learned from the Kunlun and Kongtong schools, startling the Persian Three Envoys into disarray. As Zhang Wuji breaks free and they flee with Xie Xun and the wounded Yin Li, Golden Flower Granny reveals her true colours once more.

Suddenly a woman’s voice rang out, “The Ming Order’s main force from the Central Plains has arrived!” The Drifting Cloud Messenger¹ started, his right hand raised with the Holy Fire Tablet² frozen mid-strike. A grey shadow shot forth like lightning, snatched the Heavenly Jian³ from Zhang Wuji’s waist, and with sword and person both hurled herself into the Drifting Cloud Messenger’s embrace. Zhang Wuji could not move his body, yet his eyes saw clearly. This person was Zhao Min. Joy surged through him, followed at once by horror, for the move she employed was a killing technique of the Kunlun School,⁴ called Jade Shatters on Kunlun Peak,⁵ a suicidal strike meant to drag both sides to ruin together. Though Zhang Wuji did not know the move’s name, he recognised at once that with the Heavenly Jian’s keen edge, the Drifting Cloud Messenger would surely fall beneath her blade, and she herself would scarcely escape the enemy’s vengeance.

The Drifting Cloud Messenger saw the sword-technique was ferocious beyond measure. Forget three envoys joining forces, even self-defence was beyond him. In desperation he raised the Holy Fire Tablet and struck hard to block, then rolled along the ground. A clang sounded as the tablet deflected the Heavenly Jian. His left cheek grew cold and wet. For a moment he did not know if he lived or died. When he stood and raised his hand to touch, his fingers came away wet and sticky, the pain exquisite. A patch of whisker and flesh had been shaved from his left cheek by the Heavenly Jian’s edge. Had the Holy Fire Tablet been no ordinary weapon, had it withstood the Jian’s strike, half his head would have been gone.

When Zhang Wuji had gone earlier to meet Xie Xun, Zhao Min had found Golden Flower Granny’s dealings devious and Chen Youliang’s demeanour suspicious. Uneasy, she had followed at a distance. She knew her qinggong⁶ was not yet at the highest level. To approach too closely would be to invite detection, and so she had trailed far behind. Only when Zhang Wuji engaged the Persian Three Envoys did she draw near. As Zhang Wuji matched neili⁷ with the three, she rejoiced inwardly, thinking, These three hu warriors’ martial arts may be strange, but how can they match the depth and solidity of Zhang Wuji’s Nine Yang Divine Skill⁸ neili? When suddenly Zhang Wuji called for a halt to the combat, Zhao Min was about to warn him to take care when the enemy’s ambush struck home and Zhang Wuji fell wounded to the ground. In her desperation she had cast caution aside, rushed forth, seized the Heavenly Jian, and unleashed a suicidal technique she had learned from the Kunlun School whilst imprisoned in the Wan’an Temple.⁵

Zhao Min’s first stroke forced the Drifting Cloud Messenger back, but the Heavenly Jian swept round and shaved away half her hat, revealing a tress of fine hair. Her long jian describing a slanting circle, she launched herself towards the Mysterious Wind Messenger, the Heavenly Jian reversing behind her. This move, Man and Ghost Share the Same Road,⁹ was the killing technique of the Kongtong School,¹⁰ operating on the same principle as the Kunlun School’s Jade Shatters on Kunlun Peak: knowing defeat was certain, one dragged the enemy to ruin together, precious jade and common stone alike shattered.

Such methods were exceedingly grim, and the Buddhist martial arts of Shaolin Monastery and Emei Order possessed no such techniques. Neither Jade Shatters on Kunlun Peak nor Man and Ghost Share the Same Road was a move to snatch victory from defeat or seek life from death. They aimed only at mutual destruction, both parties descending together into the underworld. That day when the Kunlun and Kongtong Schools’ masters had been imprisoned and much humiliated, their martial prowess suppressed during the contest, there was no means for them to prevail. Some of sterner temperament had attempted these desperate techniques, but with their neili gone, they could not even properly fight to the death. Yet Zhao Min had watched and memorised every one.

The Mysterious Wind Messenger saw her charge ferociously. A sudden chill seized his entire body. He stood frozen, unmoving. Though his martial arts were high, his courage was in truth exceedingly small. Seeing this strike was utterly impossible to resist, his terror reached its peak and he stood paralysed, awaiting death with folded arms.

Zhao Min’s body had already pressed against the Mysterious Wind Messenger’s Holy Fire Tablet. Her wrist trembling, she thrust her long jian towards his chest. This move required one first to cast one’s own body onto the enemy’s weapon: whether it were dao or jian, spear or axe, striking oneself, it must pause the briefest moment, and in that moment one thrust one’s own blade forward. However skilled the enemy, they could scarcely escape. The Mysterious Wind Messenger had perceived the move’s lethality, which was why terror had struck him dumb. Fortunately the weapon in his hand was the Holy Fire Tablet, shaped like an iron ruler, without edge or point. Zhao Min pressing her body against it suffered no wound. Her long jian had barely begun its forward thrust when her back was already encircled by the Bright Moon Messenger’s arms.

The Persian Three Envoys’ coordination in combat was truly beyond imagination. Zhao Min’s opening two suicidal strikes had so disarrayed these three great masters that only now did the Bright Moon Messenger embrace Zhao Min from behind. Her embrace appeared ordinary enough, yet the precision was flawless to a hair’s breadth, the response swift as a falling star. Zhao Min’s thrust, though fierce, could not reach the Mysterious Wind Messenger. She felt her arms constrict suddenly and knew at once her peril. Following the Bright Moon Messenger’s backward pull, she reversed her jian and thrust it towards her own lower abdomen.

This move was more grievous still. It belonged to the Wudang Order’s sword techniques, called Heaven and Earth Share the Same Lifespan,¹¹ yet it was not Zhang Sanfeng’s creation. It was Yin Liting¹² who had devised it in solitary contemplation, his original intent to slay Yang Xiao at the cost of his own life. Since Ji Xiaofu’s death, his heart had harboured no thought save revenge upon Yang Xiao. He knew his martial arts were no match for Yang Xiao’s. Though his shifu was the finest master under heaven, his own talent and comprehension were limited. He could not hope to master three or four tenths of his shifu’s skill. In any case, he sought only Yang Xiao’s death. He did not wish to live himself. And so upon Mount Wudang he had devised several suicidal sword techniques.

Yin Liting had been practising the sword in secret when his shifu discovered him. Zhang Sanfeng had sighed deeply, knowing the matter could not be dissuaded. He had given the sword technique the name Heaven and Earth Share the Same Lifespan, meaning that when a person dies, their spirit endures and may flourish for ten thousand ages. It was in truth a sword technique of tragic resolve, one that killed the self to achieve benevolence, that surrendered life to preserve righteousness. Yin Liting’s senior disciple had employed this move in the Wan’an Temple, and Fan Yao had rushed in to snatch her away. Now Zhao Min unleashed it.

This move was designed solely to slay an enemy clinging to one’s back. The sharp jian would pierce through one’s own lower abdomen and into the enemy’s. How could the Bright Moon Messenger escape? Had the Mysterious Wind Messenger not been struck senseless, or had the Drifting Cloud Messenger stood close enough, with the two of them linked to the Bright Moon Messenger as though one body, their vigilance might yet have saved both women’s lives.

The Heavenly Jian was about to pierce through Zhao Min and the Bright Moon Messenger’s lower abdomens when, at that hair’s breadth from disaster, Zhang Wuji’s forced opening of his acupoints succeeded. His hand shot out and seized the Heavenly Jian.

Zhao Min struggled violently and tore free from the Bright Moon Messenger’s embrace. Her thoughts moved with extreme rapidity. She reached into Zhang Wuji’s robe, drew out the Holy Fire Tablet, and hurled it far away. It struck with a crack, falling amidst the steel needles Golden Flower Granny had scattered. This Holy Fire Tablet the Persian Three Envoys treasured as they treasured their own lives. The Drifting Cloud Messenger and the Bright Moon Messenger no longer cared to fight Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min, nor even for the Mysterious Wind Messenger’s safety. Together they leapt to retrieve it. They had barely run over ten feet before they were amidst the steel needle array. The Bright Moon Messenger gave a cry of pain. She had already stepped on one of the needles. The night was dark, the grass tall to the knee, the Holy Fire Tablet and the steel needles impossible to see. The two could only pluck out needles and grope their way forward. The Mysterious Wind Messenger, as though rousing from a great dream, gave a long cry of alarm and followed.

Zhao Min, to save Zhang Wuji’s life, had executed those three moves in swift succession, like a rabbit starting and a falcon swooping, with no leisure for a single thought. Now that the peril had passed, the more she considered it the more frightened she grew. With a soft cry she fell into Zhang Wuji’s arms.

Zhang Wuji held her, feeling gratitude beyond words. But he knew that once the Persian Three Envoys found the Holy Fire Tablet, they would turn at once and return. “We must go quickly,” he said. Turning, he returned the Dragon-Slaying Dao¹³ to Xie Xun and lifted the gravely wounded Yin Li. “Xie daxia,¹⁴ for now we can only avoid their edge.” Xie Xun replied, “Yes.” He bent to release Golden Flower Granny’s sealed acupoints. Zhang Wuji thought that after this brush with death, she and Xie Xun would surely set aside all old grievances.

The four descended the hill and had walked some distance when Zhang Wuji reflected that though Yin Li was his cousin, propriety forbade a man and woman not bound by marriage from such familiarity. He handed her to Golden Flower Granny to carry. Zhao Min led the way, behind her Golden Flower Granny and Xie Xun, Zhang Wuji brought up the rear to guard against pursuit. Looking back, he saw the Persian Three Envoys still bent double, searching amidst the long grass. This battle had been a disastrous defeat for him. Thinking on the peril they had faced, his heart still trembled. Nor did he know whether Yin Li, so gravely wounded, could yet be saved.

They had not gone far when suddenly Xie Xun gave a fierce roar and struck with his fist towards Golden Flower Granny’s back.

Golden Flower Granny swept her hand to deflect the blow, at the same time dropping Yin Li to the ground. Zhang Wuji was alarmed and flew forward. Xie Xun cried, “Madam Han, why do you seek once more to slay Miss Yin?” Golden Flower Granny laughed coldly, “Whether you kill me or not is your affair. Whether I kill her or not is mine. Can you control me?” Zhang Wuji said, “While I am here, I will not permit you to harm the innocent at whim.” Golden Flower Granny replied, “Has your lordship not meddled in others’ affairs enough for one day?” Zhang Wuji said, “It may not be meddling. The Persian Three Envoys will be here presently. If you do not flee, you delay.”

Golden Flower Granny gave a cold snort and darted west. Suddenly she reversed her hand and hurled three golden flowers, straight at the back of Yin Li’s skull. Zhang Wuji flicked them away with his finger. Three whistling sounds tore the air as the golden flowers rebounded towards Golden Flower Granny, the crack of their passage fiercer than a strong crossbow’s bolt. When he had earlier lifted Yin Li, he had wiped away the false beard and disguise plastered to his face. Golden Flower Granny had seen his features clearly. She had not expected this youth’s neili to be so profound. She dared not reach out to catch the flowers and threw herself flat to the ground. The three golden flowers grazed her back, tearing three great rents in her cloth gown. So terrified was she that her heart pounded wildly. Without looking back, she fled.

Zhang Wuji lifted Yin Li into his arms when suddenly Zhao Min gave a cry of pain, bent double, both hands pressing against her lower abdomen. He hurried forward. “What is it?” He saw her hands covered in blood, blood still seeping between her fingers. It seemed that move of Heaven and Earth Share the Same Lifespan had, after all, wounded her lower abdomen. Zhang Wuji’s face changed with alarm. “How badly are you hurt?” From amidst the steel needle array came the Mysterious Wind Messenger’s jubilant cry, in a foreign tongue. From the tone of his rejoicing, he was surely crying, “Found it! Found it!”

Zhao Min said urgently, “Do not mind me! Quickly, quickly!” Zhang Wuji swept her into his arms and raced down the hill. Zhao Min said, “To the ship! Set sail and flee.” Zhang Wuji answered, “Yes!” One arm holding Yin Li, the other holding Zhao Min, he hastened down the mountain. Xie Xun followed behind, marvelling inwardly, How extraordinary is this youth, carrying two people in his arms yet still running so swiftly. Zhang Wuji’s heart was a tangle of confusion. If either of the two young women in his arms were to die of their wounds, it would be a lifelong regret. Fortunately he felt both their bodies warm, with no sign of growing cold.

Footnotes

1. 流云使 – Liúyún Shǐ. The Drifting Cloud Messenger, one of the three envoys sent by the Persian Ming Order’s central temple. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 圣火令 – Shènghuǒ Lìng. Twelve black tablets of the Ming Order, symbols of authority. To behold the Holy Fire Tablets is to behold the Order Leader himself. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 倚天剑 – Yǐtiān Jiàn. The Heavenly Jian. The other of the twin legendary weapons forged from Yang Guo’s Heavy Iron Sword. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 昆仑派 – Kūnlún Pài. Kunlun School, a martial school based in the Kunlun Mountains of the northwest. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 玉碎昆冈 – Yù Suì Kūngāng. Literally jade shatters on the Kunlun ridge. A Kunlun School killing move of mutual destruction, named after the legend of jade breaking upon the mountain—precious, but willingly sacrificed. ↩ ↩²

6. 轻功 – qīnggōng. Literally lightness skill. Ability to move with superhuman agility, and weightlessness through qi redistribution to leap over trees and roofs, and skip over water. See Wikipedia. ↩

7. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force. The kinetic manifestation of qi, cultivated through neigong and deployed in martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

9. 人鬼同途 – Rén Guǐ Tóng Tú. Literally man and ghost share the same road. A Kongtong School killing move on the same principle as “Jade Shatters on Kunlun Peak”: knowing defeat is certain, the practitioner drags the enemy into death together. ↩

10. 崆峒派 – Kōngtóng Pài. Kongtong School, a martial school based in the Kongtong Mountains of the northwest. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 天地同寿 – Tiān Dì Tóng Shòu. Literally to share the same lifespan as heaven and earth. A Wudang Order sword move created by Yin Liting, designed to kill an enemy clinging to the user’s back, the sword piercing through the user’s own body into the enemy’s. Zhang Sanfeng named it to express the idea that after death, the spirit endures for ten thousand ages. ↩

12. 殷梨亭 – Yīn Lítíng. The sixth of the Seven Xias of Wudang, who fell in love with Ji Xiaofu. After her death, his consuming desire for revenge against Yang Xiao drove him to devise this suicidal sword technique. ↩

13. 屠龙刀 – Túlóng Dāo. The Dragon-Slaying Dao. One of the twin legendary weapons forged from Yang Guo’s Heavy Iron Sword by Guo Jing and Huang Rong. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 大侠 – dàxiá. Great xia; a title of respect for a renowned martial artist of high moral standing. ↩