The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre Chapter 3 Part 7

Du Dajin¹ observed the man’s nimble movements. The spring in his leap and the grace of his landing bore a faintly familiar quality. He thought to himself, The founding patriarch of the Wudang Order,² Zhang Sanfeng,³ once resided at our Shaolin Monastery.⁴ His Wudang martial arts have indeed never strayed far from our Shaolin Order. To call it an independent creation seems rather overstated.

With this reasoning, he harboured no further doubts and asked, “Might you gentlemen be the famed Seven Xias of Wudang?⁵ Which of you is Song daxia? I have long admired his illustrious name.”

The man with the black mole on his face replied, “Such trifling reputations are hardly worth mentioning. Brother Du is too modest.”

The bald man turned and mounted his horse, saying, “His injuries are grave and brook no delay. We shall take him first.”

The man with the black mole clasped his fist and said, “Brother Du has travelled far and endured much hardship. Please accept my thanks on behalf of us all.” Du Dajin returned the salute with cupped hands, saying, “You are too kind.”

The man continued, “This gentleman’s injuries are severe. We shall escort him up the mountain for treatment.”

Du Dajin was a man of careful habits and held fast to the carriage shafts, saying, “I would prefer to escort the injured party up the mountain myself and deliver him into the hands of Zhang the Perfected One,⁶ lest there be complications later.” The man replied, “Rest assured, Brother Du. I shall take full responsibility.”

Du Dajin considered this. It would be well enough to rid himself of this burden sooner rather than later. He said, “Then might the Wudang Order provide some token of receipt, so that we may account to our client?”

The man with the black mole unfastened the long jian from his back, raised it in both hands, and offered it forward, saying, “This is my personal jian. Where the jian is, there am I. Where the jian perishes, so shall I. Would this suffice as a token?”

Du Dajin drew back in alarm. “I would not dare!”

He bowed and accepted the jian with both hands. The man’s words carried such weight that Du Dajin felt somewhat intimidated by his formidable reputation. Besides, they were now in Wudang territory, and the man’s jian was already in his hand. Even if he insisted on ascending the mountain and presenting himself before Zhang Sanfeng, what then? He would simply hand over the man and be sent packing down the mountain, perhaps even without this jian to show for it. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “Very well. We shall deliver our charge to the Wudang Order here.”

The man’s face brightened. “Has the escort fee been settled with Brother Du?”

Du Dajin replied, “It was paid in full beforehand.”

The man produced a gold ingot from his robe, some twenty liang⁷ by the look of it, and extended his long arm. “A trifling sum for tea. Please distribute it among your brothers with my compliments.”

Du Dajin declined. “Two thousand liang of gold for the escort fee, that is more than sufficient. Du is not a man of insatiable greed.”

The man said, “Hmm, two thousand liang of gold!”

Two of his companions spurred their horses forward. One leapt onto the driver’s seat, took hold of the reins, and drove the carriage on ahead. The remaining four rode as escort behind.

The man with the black mole gave a flick of his wrist and tossed the gold ingot lightly before Du Dajin, smiling as he said, “No need for ceremony, Brother Du. Please return to Lin’an!”⁸

Du Dajin saw the ingot arc toward him and reached out to catch it. He made to return it, but the man had already wheeled his horse about and galloped away. In moments, five horses surrounding a single carriage had rounded the mountain spur and vanished from sight.

When Du Dajin examined the gold ingot, he saw that five finger-marks had been pressed deep into its surface, sinking several tenths of an inch into the metal. Though gold was far softer than copper or iron, such finger strength was nonetheless astonishing. Du Dajin stared at it, thinking, The reputation of the Seven Xias of Wudang is no fluke. In our Shaolin Order,⁹ perhaps only a few of my shibos and shishu¹⁰ who have deeply studied the Vajra Finger¹¹ possess such power.

He drew the jian from its scabbard. Apart from its considerable heft, there was nothing remarkable about it. He thought it rather unfitting that one of the Seven Xias of Wudang should carry such an ordinary steel jian.

Escort Captain Zhu¹² spoke up. “Escort Chief, the disciples of Wudang are rather lacking in courtesy. They met us without even giving their names. We’ve travelled a thousand li¹³ to reach the foot of Mount Wudang, yet they didn’t invite us up for a meal or lodging. We are all of one wulin,¹⁴ and this is simply not how friends should be treated.”

Du Dajin had long harboured the same grievance but had kept it to himself. He gave a thin smile. “Saved us a few steps, did it not? Shaolin disciples entering a Wudang temple, that would have been rather awkward. Brothers, let us head back.”

Though this escort run had proceeded without the slightest mishap, everything had been shrouded in mystery, and whether by design or coincidence, they had been slighted at every turn. The Seven Xias of Wudang had not even deigned to give their names, a clear sign they thought nothing of him. Leaving behind a jian as a token might well be a ruse for all he knew. The more Du Dajin dwelt on it, the more his resentment grew. He began silently scheming how he might vent this simmering anger.

The company retraced their steps. Du Dajin’s spirits were low, but the escort captains and runner guards were in high spirits, thinking of the arduous ten days and nights that had earned them two thousand liang of gold. The Escort Chief was known for his generosity. The brothers could surely expect a handsome reward.

As evening approached, they were little more than ten li from Shuangjingzi. Escort Captain Zhu noticed Du Dajin’s sullen expression and said, “Escort Chief, there’s no need to take today’s matter to heart. The mountains are high and the waters long. In the jianghu,¹⁵ we shall meet again another day. How long can the Seven Xias of Wudang keep up such airs?”

Du Dajin sighed. “There is one thing I deeply regret.”

Escort Captain Zhu asked, “What is that?”

Just then, hoofbeats sounded behind them as a horse approached at a leisurely pace. Strangely, though its gait seemed unhurried, it drew ever closer. The company looked back and saw that the horse had unusually long legs, standing more than a foot taller than an ordinary mount. With such long legs, it naturally covered ground swiftly. The horse was a dappled grey, its coat gleaming like oil.

Escort Captain Zhu praised, “Fine horse!”

He continued, “Escort Chief, there’s nothing we did wrong, is there?”

Du Dajin said wistfully, “I speak of matters twenty-five years past. When I completed my training at Shaolin Monastery, my shifu¹⁶ wished me to remain and study another five years to master the full Great Weituo Palm.¹⁷ At the time I was young and hot-blooded, convinced that my skills were already sufficient to make my way in the jianghu. I had no patience to endure further hardship at the temple and refused to heed my shifu’s counsel. Ah, had I only persevered those five more years, would I now need to give a second thought to the Seven Xias of Wudang? I would never have suffered such humiliation today…”

He was mid-sentence when the grey horse overtook the escort party. Its rider cast a sidelong glance at Du Dajin and Escort Captain Zhu, his face betraying unmistakable surprise.

Seeing a stranger draw near, Du Dajin immediately fell silent. The rider was a young man of twenty-one or twenty-two, his features handsome though somewhat gaunt. Yet despite his slender frame, there was a spirited brightness about him, and his apparent frailty could not conceal an underlying air of dashing vigour. The young man clasped his fist and said, “Pardon me, pardon me.”

His grey mount stretched out its long legs and passed the escort party, continuing onward.

Du Dajin watched the retreating figure and said, “Brother Zhu, what manner of man do you take him for?”

Escort Captain Zhu replied, “He came down from the mountain, perhaps another Wudang disciple. But he carries no weapon, and his frame is so frail. He doesn’t look like a practitioner at all.”

No sooner had he spoken than the young man suddenly wheeled his horse about and rode back, calling from a distance with cupped fists, “Forgive my impertinence! I have a question. Please take no offence.”

Du Dajin found his manner courteous and reined in his horse. “What would you like to ask?”

The young man glanced at the Leaping Carp banner¹⁸ held aloft by the runner guards and said, “Might your honourable establishment be the Longmen Armed Escort¹⁹ of Lin’an Prefecture in Jiangnan?”

Escort Captain Zhu replied, “Indeed!”

The young man said, “Might I ask your honourable names? Is Escort Chief Du well?”

Though Escort Captain Zhu found him courteous enough, experience had taught him that one could never know another’s heart. It would not do to speak too freely with strangers. He said, “My surname is Zhu. And yours, friend? Are you acquainted with our Escort Chief Du?”

The young man dismounted and led his horse forward a few steps. “My surname is Zhang, my style name Cuishan.²⁰ I have long admired the reputation of your Escort Chief Du, though I have never had the honour of meeting him.”

At the mention of “Zhang Cuishan,” Du Dajin and the two escort captains, Zhu and Shi, all started in surprise. Zhang Cuishan ranked fifth among the Seven Xias of Wudang, and in recent years his name had been much praised throughout the wulin for his exceptional martial arts. Who would have thought he was such a refined, seemingly delicate young man? Du Dajin remained sceptical. He urged his horse forward and said, “I am Du Dajin. Might you be the Zhang the Fifth Xia, whom the jianghu calls the Silver Hook Iron Stroke?”²¹

The young man smiled. “Xia this and xia that, Escort Chief Du is too kind. You have come all the way to Wudang. Why did you not ascend the mountain? Today happens to be my shifu’s ninetieth birthday. If it would not inconvenience you, would you care to come up and share a cup of celebratory wine?”

Du Dajin found his manner sincere and thought, How is it the Seven Xias of Wudang are so different in temperament? Those six were arrogant and discourteous, yet this Zhang the Fifth Xia is humble and personable.

He too dismounted and said with a smile, “If your fellow disciples had shown half the warmth of Zhang the Fifth Xia, we would already be on Mount Wudang by now.”

Zhang Cuishan said, “Oh? Escort Chief encountered my fellow disciples?”

He added, “Which one?”

Du Dajin thought, You play the innocent well, feigning ignorance even now.

He said, “I have been most fortunate today. I have met all seven of the Seven Xias of Wudang.”

Zhang Cuishan exclaimed in surprise and asked, “You met my Third Shige Yu as well?”

Du Dajin replied, “Yu Daiyan,²² Yu the Third Xia? I cannot say which was Yu the Third Xia. Six men appeared together. Yu the Third Xia would surely have been among them.”

Zhang Cuishan said, “Six men? That is passing strange. Which six?”

Du Dajin answered with some heat, “These fellow disciples of yours would not give their names. How should I know? Since you are Zhang the Fifth Xia, those six must be Song daxia on down to Mo the Seventh Xia.” He paused before each “Xia” and drew the word out, with a faint edge of mockery in it.

But Zhang Cuishan was deep in thought and did not notice. He asked again, “Escort Chief Du truly saw them?”

Du Dajin said, “Not I alone. Every man in my company, dozens of pairs of eyes, saw them together.”

Zhang Cuishan shook his head. “That cannot be right. Song shige and the others have been attending our shifu at Purple Heaven Palace²³ all day. None of them has set foot down the mountain. Shifu and Song shige noticed that Third Shige Yu had not arrived past midday and sent me down to wait for him. How could Escort Chief have seen Song shige and the others?”

Du Dajin said, “The one with a large black mole on his cheek, with three long hairs growing from it, that would be Song daxia, would it not?”

Zhang Cuishan started. “None among my fellow disciples has a mole on his cheek, let alone one with hairs growing from it.”

These words sent a chill rising from Du Dajin’s heart. He said, “Those six men claimed to be six of the Seven Xias of Wudang. They appeared at the foot of Mount Wudang, and two of them wore Daoist caps. Naturally we assumed…”

Zhang Cuishan cut in, “Though my shifu is a Daoist, he has only taken secular disciples. Did those six men actually call themselves the ‘Six Xias of Wudang’?”

Du Dajin cast his mind back over the earlier encounter. Only then did he realise that from the start, he himself had assumed the six men to be the Six Xias of Wudang. They had never spoken a single word to confirm their identities. They had simply not corrected his misapprehension. He and Escort Captains Zhu and Shi exchanged uneasy glances. He hastily unfastened the jian tucked into his belt, offered it with both hands, and said, “This was given to me as a token by one of your fellow disciples!”

Zhang Cuishan took the jian, drew it from its scabbard, glanced at it briefly, and returned it to its sheath. He said, “The jian carried by my fellow disciples all bear our names engraved upon the jian. This jian is not from the Wudang Order.”

Du Dajin cried out in alarm, his voice trembling, “Then those six men harbour ill intent! We must pursue them at once!”

He leapt onto his horse, wheeled it about, and spurred it into a gallop up the mountain road.

Footnotes

1. 都大锦 – Dū Dàjǐn. His name meaning “Great Brocade.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 武当派 – Wǔdāng Pài. Wudang Order, the Daoist martial order founded by Zhang Sanfeng; 派 renders as “Order” for its religious character. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 张三丰 – Zhāng Sānfēng. His name meaning “Three Peaks.” Legendary founder of the Wudang Order and creator of taijiquan; Zhang Wuji’s Grand Shifu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 少林寺 – Shàolín Sì. Shaolin Monastery, the ancient Buddhist monastery on Mount Song, cradle of the Shaolin martial arts. See Wikipedia. ↩

5. 武当七侠 – Wǔdāng Qī Xiá. Seven foremost disciples of Zhang Sanfeng, of whom Zhang Cuishan is the fifth. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 真人 – zhēnrén. Literally Perfected One. Daoist honorific title for accomplished practitioners; here referring to Zhang Sanfeng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 两 – liǎng. Unit of weight for precious metals, approximately 37.5 grams. Used as currency denomination in ancient China. ↩

8. 临安 – Lín’ān. Capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1276), known for its cultural refinement and West Lake scenery. Modern-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

9. 少林派 – Shàolín Pài. Shaolin Order, the Buddhist martial tradition originating from Shaolin Monastery. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 师伯师叔 – shībó shīshū. Senior and junior lineage uncles; the fellow disciples of one’s shifu who outrank and underrank one’s shifu in the lineage. ↩

11. 金刚指 – Jīngāng Zhǐ. Literally Vajra Finger. Shaolin finger technique capable of crushing bones and severing sinews. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 祝镖头 – Zhù Biāotóu. Literally Escort Captain Zhu. ↩

13. 里 – lǐ. Traditional Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 metres or a third of a mile. ↩

14. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. Those who actually practise, teach or study martial arts. Wulin sits inside the jianghu and is narrower than it: every member of the wulin belongs to the jianghu, but a pedlar or physician of the jianghu who never trained is no part of the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach, holding not only martial artists but the trades that travel with them, including pedlars, physicians, fortune-tellers, entertainers, boatmen, beggars, outlaws and the like. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 师父 – shīfù. Teacher or master responsible for technical instruction and moral guidance. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 大韦陀掌 – Dà Wéituó Zhǎng. Literally Great Weituo Palm. Shaolin palm technique named after Weituo, a Buddhist guardian deity. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 跃鲤 – yuèlǐ. Literally leaping carp. Carp leaping over the dragon gate is a symbol of advancement and success, making it an auspicious emblem for an armed escort named “Dragon Gate.” ↩

19. 龙门镖局 – Lóngmén Biāojú. Literally Longmen Armed Escort. Armed escort. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 张翠山 – Zhāng Cuìshān. His name meaning “Verdant Mountain.” Fifth disciple of Zhang Sanfeng and member of the Seven Xias of Wudang. His epithet is the Silver Hook Iron Stroke. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 银钩铁划 – Yíngōu Tiěhuà. Literally silver hook iron stroke. Epithet derived from calligraphy terminology, referring to powerful, graceful brushwork, a fitting title for Zhang Cuishan, whose martial arts incorporate calligraphic principles. ↩

22. 俞岱岩 – Yú Dàiyán. His name meaning “Lofty Cliff of Mount Dai.” Third of the Seven Xias of Wudang, crippled years before. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 紫霄宫 – Zǐxiāo Gōng. Literally Purple Heaven Palace. Principal Daoist temple on Mount Wudang and headquarters of the Wudang Order. See Wikipedia. ↩