The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 29: Four Women Adrift, What Hope Remains?

Four women in one boat, what do they hope for?

Just then, they heard a strange clinking sound from behind, two sharp metallic notes, and three figures came rushing toward them at great speed. Zhang Wuji glanced back and saw that all three wore flowing white robes. Two of them were exceedingly tall, while the one on the left was a woman. They stood with their backs to the moon, their faces obscured in shadow, but on the hem of each white robe there was unmistakably embroidered a flame. They were members of the Ming Order.¹ Each of them held their hands high above their heads, and in each hand they gripped a black tablet roughly two feet long. The tallest of the three, standing in the centre, spoke in a loud, clear voice: “The Holy Fire Tablets of the Ming Order have arrived! Protectors of the Faith, Dragon King, Lion King, why do you not kneel and receive them?”

His speech was halting and his tones wrong, as though he had memorised every word from a book but could barely shape the sounds.

Zhang Wuji was startled. He thought to himself, Left Messenger Yang once told me that our Order’s Holy Fire Tablets were lost during the time of the thirty-first Order Leader, Leader Shi. How can they be in the hands of these three? Are they genuine? And are these people truly disciples of our Order?

Golden Flower Granny spoke up. “I left the Order long ago. The title ‘Protector Dragon King’ no longer applies to me. May I ask your honoured names? And where did you obtain these Holy Fire Tablets. Are they real or false?”

The man barked back, “You have already renounced the Order. What business is it of yours to chatter?”

Golden Flower Granny said coldly, “In all my life, I have never tolerated a single rude word from anyone. Even when Order Leader Yang was still alive, he treated me with deference. Who in the Order are you, that you dare raise your voice at me?”

Without warning, the three figures shifted their stances and lunged forward simultaneously, all three left hands reaching to seize Golden Flower Granny. She swung her staff in a wide horizontal sweep to meet them, but somehow their footwork was utterly alien. Their bodies had already changed direction before her staff completed its arc. Golden Flower Granny’s strike hit nothing but air, and in the same instant all three of their right hands had seized the nape of her neck. With a violent shake, they hurled her far away.

Given the sheer power of Golden Flower Granny’s martial arts, even the three greatest masters under heaven could not have seized and thrown her in a single move. But these three white-robed figures moved with such bizarre footwork and such exquisitely coordinated timing that it was as though a single warrior had grown three heads and six arms.² Zhang Wuji could not help but cry out in astonishment.

Their bodies shifted, and now he could see them clearly. The tallest had a curly beard and jade-green eyes. The second had a yellow beard and a hawk-like nose. The woman’s hair was as black as any Chinese beauty’s, but her irises were so pale as to be almost colourless. Her face was an oval melon-seed shape, and she appeared to be about thirty years of age. Strange as her appearance was, she was undeniably beautiful.

Zhang Wuji thought, So all three of them are foreigners from the Western Regions. No wonder their speech is so stilted. They talk as though they’re reciting a text from memory.

The curly-bearded man spoke again in a ringing voice: “Judging by your pale yellow hair, you must be the Golden Lion King, Xie Xun? When one beholds the Holy Fire Tablets, one beholds the Order Leader himself. Xie Xun, why do you not kneel?”

Xie Xun said, “Who exactly are you three? If you are disciples of our Order, I ought to know you. If you are not of the Order, then the Holy Fire Tablets have nothing to do with you.”

The curly-bearded man asked, “From what land does the Ming Order originate?”

Xie Xun replied, “It originated in Persia.”

The man said, “Indeed, indeed! I am the Cloud Messenger of the Persian Ming Order’s central temple. These two are the Wondrous Wind Messenger and the Radiant Moon Messenger. We have been sent by the Grand Order Leader himself, travelling all the way from Persia to the Central Plains.”

Xie Xun and Zhang Wuji were both taken aback. Zhang Wuji had read Yang Xiao’s Record of the Ming Order’s Transmission to the Central Plains³ and knew that the Ming Order had indeed been brought from Persia. These three, two men and a woman, certainly looked Persian, and their martial arts were strange beyond anything he had seen. It was probably genuine.

The yellow-bearded Wondrous Wind Messenger spoke, “Our Order Leader has received word that the leader of the Central Plains branch has gone missing, that the disciples are killing one another, and that our Order is in grave decline. Therefore she has commanded us, Cloud, Wind, and Moon, to come and restore order. Every member of the Order, from highest to lowest, shall obey our orders without fail.”

Zhang Wuji was secretly delighted. “If the Grand Order Leader has sent orders, that is the best possible outcome. It would spare me this heavy burden. My knowledge is shallow, and I might have ruined everything.”

Xie Xun spoke carefully: “Although the Central Plains Ming Order originated in Persia, over the centuries we have become an independent Order, never subject to the governance of the Persian central temple. I am deeply delighted that you three have travelled so far, but this talk of kneeling, where does that come from?”

The curly-bearded Cloud Messenger struck the two black tablets against each other. A dull thud rang out, a sound neither metallic nor jade-like, deeply uncanny. He said, “These are the Holy Fire Tablets of the Central Plains Ming Order. The former Order Leader Shi was unworthy and lost them. They were later recovered by the central temple. By ancient custom, to behold the Holy Fire Tablets is to behold the Order Leader himself. Xie Xun, will you obey?”

When Xie Xun had joined the Order, the Holy Fire Tablets had been lost for many years. He had never seen them, but he had heard of their mystical power. Hearing the strange sound they made, he knew these must indeed be the genuine tokens. Moreover, the three of them had seized and thrown Golden Flower Granny in a single move. No ordinary fighters could have done that. He had no further doubts.

“I believe what you say,” Xie Xun replied. “But what are your orders?”

The Cloud Messenger waved his left hand lightly. In the same instant, all three envoys leapt into the air, and in two bounds they were at Golden Flower Granny’s side. She flung her golden flowers at them, scattering them toward all three. The envoys dodged and weaved, avoiding every one. Then the Radiant Moon Messenger surged forward, reaching out to jab a finger at Golden Flower Granny’s throat. Golden Flower Granny raised her staff to block and counter-attacked with a thrust of her own, but suddenly she was lifted into the air, seized from behind by the Cloud Messenger and Wondrous Wind Messenger. The Radiant Moon Messenger rushed forward three steps and struck her chest and abdomen three times with her palms. The blows did not seem forceful, but Golden Flower Granny was instantly unable to move.

Zhang Wuji observed carefully and thought, Their individual movement and footwork are nothing extraordinary. What makes them formidable is their coordination: they complement each other perfectly. The Radiant Moon Messenger attacks in front to draw the enemy out, while the other two strike from behind like phantoms. Yet each one’s personal skill is actually inferior to Golden Flower Granny’s. Those three palm strikes the woman used, they seem similar to our Central Plains arts of striking and sealing acupoints.

The Cloud Messenger held Golden Flower Granny aloft, then shook his left arm and hurled her to the ground before Xie Xun. He said, “Lion King, by the rules of our Order, once you enter, you may never leave. This woman claims to have renounced the Order. She is a traitor. Cut off her head at once.”

Xie Xun was taken aback. “The Central Plains Ming Order has never had such a rule.”

The Cloud Messenger said coldly, “From now on, the Central Plains Ming Order will obey all orders from the Persian central temple. A traitor who has left the Order, if spared, will only breed disaster. Dispose of her at once.”

Xie Xun said proudly, “The Ming Order’s Four Dharma Kings are bound as by orchid brotherhood.⁴ Though she has shown me no loyalty today, I cannot show her no loyalty in return. I will not lay hands on a companion.”

The Wondrous Wind Messenger gave a snickering laugh. “You Chinese are all mothers and grandmothers, so much tedious talk! A person who leaves the Order must be killed. Is that not so? What kind of reasoning is this? Truly bizarre, utterly incomprehensible!”

Xie Xun said, “Xie Xun kills without blinking, but I do not kill fellow Order members.”

The Radiant Moon Messenger said, “You must kill her. If you disobey orders, we will kill you first.”

Xie Xun said, “You three have come to the Central Plains, and your very first order is to force the Golden Lion King to murder the Purple-Robed Dragon King. Is this meant to establish authority through terror?”

The Radiant Moon Messenger smiled faintly. “Though you are blind, your mind is clear enough. Now, act quickly.”

Xie Xun threw back his head and laughed long and loud, his voice echoing through the valleys. “The Golden Lion King acts openly and without shame! Even if this man were my bitterest enemy, once he is captured and powerless, how could Xie Xun add blade to his helplessness? But you three… “ He turned his fury on the Persian envoys. “You dare threaten me with these tokens?”

The Wondrous Wind Messenger said, “Any Ming Order member who does not obey the Holy Fire Tablets shall be put to death without mercy!”

Xie Xun roared, “I am a Protector King of the Order! Even if the Order Leader himself wished to kill me, he would first have to convene an altar and report to Heaven and to our Order’s Holy Lord, stating my crimes in full. You cannot simply order my death!”

The Wondrous Wind Messenger laughed. “The Ming Order is perfectly fine in Persia. The moment it came to the Central Plains, it developed all these stinking rules!”

All three envoys shrieked and charged. Xie Xun swung the Dragon-Slaying Dao in a guard before him. The three envoys attacked three times in succession but could not close the distance.

The Radiant Moon Messenger pressed forward, her left hand bringing the Holy Fire Tablet crashing down toward Xie Xun’s crown. Xie Xun raised his dao to block, clang!. A most peculiar sound rang out. The Dragon-Slaying Dao, which could cut through anything, could not sever the Holy Fire Tablet. In that instant, the Cloud Messenger rolled his body to the left and struck Xie Xun’s leg with his token. Xie Xun stumbled. The Wondrous Wind Messenger thrust horizontally at his back, but suddenly his wrist was clamped tight. The Holy Fire Tablet had been snatched from his grip.

He whirled in shock and saw that a young man held the sacred token in his right hand.

Footnotes

1. 明教 – Míngjiào. Literally the religion of light. Also known as Manichaeism, a dualistic religion of Persian origin that became the backbone of several rebel movements in Chinese history. In the wuxia tradition, it serves as the organising force against the Mongol Yuan dynasty. ↩

2. 三头六臂 – sāntóu liùbì. Literally three heads and six arms. A Buddhist and Daoist idiom describing supernatural combat prowess, evoking the multi-armed wrathful deities of temple iconography. ↩

3. 明教流传中土记 – Míngjiào Liúchuán Zhōngtǔ Jì. Literally a record of the Ming Order’s transmission to the Central Plains. A fictional historical text by Yang Xiao, documenting how the Ming Order travelled from Persia along the Silk Road to China. ↩

4. 金兰 – jīnlán. Literally metal and orchid, from the Classic of Changes: “When two people are of one mind, their sharpness cuts through metal; their words, like orchids, are as fragrant as the spring.” A bond sworn as deep as blood kinship. ↩