The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 30 – Part 3

Zhang Wuji asked, “Godfather, why did Lady Han secretly enter the Secret Passage?”

Xie Xun said, “The story behind that is a long one. Lady Han told me in private, and I am the only one in the Order who knows. At the time we all suspected it had something to do with the disappearance of Order Leader Yang and his wife, but I testified forcefully that Lady Han was in no way involved. In the Holy Fire Hall on Bright Peak, when the assembled heroes had argued themselves to a standstill, Lady Han finally broke open the gates and left the Order. She declared that from that day forward she had nothing more to do with the Central Plains Ming Order. She was the first to cast herself out, and that very day she and Han Qianye drifted down the peak and vanished from sight.”

“After that, the brothers of the Order searched in vain for their zhangmen,¹ and after some years the struggle for the leadership grew worse and worse. White-Browed Yin, my Second Brother, left Bright Peak of his own will and founded the Tianying Order.² I pleaded with him bitterly, but he would not listen. The two of us actually fell out. More than twenty years ago, at Wang Pan Mountain,³ the Tianying Order brandished the Dragon-Slaying Dao⁴ and proclaimed their might. The Golden-Haired Lion King⁵ rode over to crash their parade. Partly it was for the sake of the treasured dao, and partly to vent an old grudge. I meant to put Yin Er Ge in an impossible position, to show him that after leaving the Ming Order he might not accomplish much. Alas, thinking on it now, I was too much carried away by passion.”

In his long, drawn-out sigh lay endless bitterness of years gone by, and countless storms of the jianghu.⁶

The others were silent for a while. Zhao Min asked, “Old Master, later Golden Flower Granny and Silver Leaf Master terrorised the jianghu. How was it that no one in the Ming Order recognised her? The Silver Leaf Master must have been Han Qianye. How did he come by the poison that killed him?”

Xie Xun said, “Of what passed in between I know nothing at all. I imagine that when the two of them walked the jianghu, they took every care to avoid the Ming Order’s people.” Zhang Wuji said, “Indeed. Golden Flower Granny never showed her face to any of the Order’s members. When the six great factions besieged the Ming Order, she came to Bright Peak but did not go up the slope to offer aid.”

Zhao Min murmured, “But the Purple-Robed Dragon King⁷ was famed for peerless beauty. How could she have made herself so ugly? There is no disfigurement on her face.” Xie Xun said, “I imagine she must have used some subtle art to alter her features. Lady Han has always been eccentric in her ways, but in truth she carries sorrows she cannot speak of. All her life she has been fleeing from the pursuit of those sent by the Persian Headquarters,⁸ and she never imagined that in the end she could not escape them after all.”

Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min asked together, “Why does the Persian Headquarters seek her?”

Xie Xun said, “That is Lady Han’s greatest secret, and I ought not to speak of it. But if you are to return to Ling Snake Island⁹ to save her, I must tell you all.” Zhao Min cried in alarm, “We are to go back to Ling Snake Island? Can we fight those three Persian envoys?”

Xie Xun did not answer, but went on with his tale: “For several hundred years the zhangmen of the Central Plains Ming Order has by tradition been a man. But the zhangmen of the Persian Ming Order, apart from the founding zhangmen herself, has always been a woman, and an unmarried virgin. The Headquarters’ scriptures solemnly decree that a Holy Maiden¹⁰ shall serve as zhangmen, to uphold the sacred purity of the Ming Order. After each new zhangmen takes office, she chooses three daughters of high-ranking members of the Order, called Holy Maidens. These three Holy Maidens swear an oath upon assuming their duties and travel the four quarters, performing deeds of merit for the Ming Order. When a zhangmen dies, the Order’s Elders assemble and assess the merits of the three Holy Maidens, choosing the one with the greatest service to succeed. But if any of these three Holy Maidens should lose her virginity, she is to be punished by burning at the stake. Though she flee to the ends of the earth, the Order will send men to hunt her down and preserve the Holy Order’s purity and virtue.” Zhao Min gasped, “Could Lady Han have been one of the Headquarters’ three Holy Maidens?”

Xie Xun nodded. “Indeed. Before Fan Yao discovered her secret entry into the passage, I had in fact learned of it first. Lady Han took me for her confidant and told me the truth of it, everything. In the Cold Water Pool¹¹ she and Han Qianye fought, and in the water their skin touched, and she could not hold herself in check. Later she tended him on his sickbed, and the bond was sealed. She knew the Headquarters would one day send men to investigate, and hoped only to perform some great service for the Headquarters to atone for her sin. What she sought by stealing into the Secret Passage was the heart-method of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.¹² That method had long been lost to the Headquarters, but the Central Plains Ming Order still preserved it. The Headquarters had sent her to Bright Peak for that very purpose.”

Zhang Wuji cried “Ah!” and felt a vague unease, though he could not at once tell what it was about. He heard Xie Xun continue: “Lady Han entered the Secret Passage many times by stealth, but she never found the heart-method. When I discovered this, I solemnly warned her that what she did violated our Order’s gravest rules, and could not be forgiven.” Zhao Min broke in, “Ah, I understand now. Lady Han broke away from the Order so that she could keep entering the Secret Passage. Once she was no longer a member of the Central Plains Ming Order, the rules would not bind her.”

Xie Xun said, “You are very clever, Miss Zhao. But Bright Peak is the root and stronghold of our Order. How could it suffer an outsider to come and go as she pleased? I too guessed her purpose at the time. After Lady Han went down the mountain, I guarded the entrance to the Secret Passage myself. Lady Han climbed the mountain in secret three times, and each time she found me there. Only then did she give up that hope. After that, the brothers of the Order fought one another for the zhangmen’s seat, and I would have no part in the turmoil. I took my wife and child and returned to my old home in the Central Plains. Not long after, my shifu¹³ Cheng Kun came to visit. Then came the tragedy. My heart was set on vengeance, and I gave no more thought to the Order’s affairs. I do not know whether Lady Han ever entered the passage again.”

Xie Xun thought for a while, then asked, “What of the dress of those three Persian envoys? Did it differ in any way from that of the Central Plains Ming Order?” Zhang Wuji said, “They all wore white robes, with red flames embroidered on the hems. Well, the white robes were edged in black. That was the only small difference.” Xie Xun slapped the gunwale. “That is it. The Headquarters’ zhangmen has died. Among the peoples of the Western Regions, black is the colour of mourning. The white robes trimmed with black are a sign of bereavement. They mean to choose a new zhangmen, and so they have come ten thousand li¹⁴ across to the Central Plains to trace Lady Han’s whereabouts.”

Zhang Wuji said, “If Lady Han came from Persia, she must know the unusual martial arts of the three Persian envoys. How was it that inside a single move they overpowered her?” Zhao Min laughed, “You are a fool. Lady Han was pretending. She could not reveal her identity, and so she certainly could not show that she understood the Persian school of martial arts. I should think that if the Old Master had obeyed the three Persian envoys’ orders and struck her down, Lady Han would have had some means of escape.” Xie Xun shook his head. “Her unwillingness to reveal herself was a mistake. But to say she could have freed herself the moment those three struck her acupoints,¹⁵ that is not so certain either. She would rather I had killed her with a single blow than endure the agony of burning at the stake.”

Zhao Min said, “I called the Central Plains Ming Order a demonic cult, but the Persian Ming Order is even more demonic by far. Why must the zhangmen be a virgin? Why must a Holy Maiden who has lost her virginity be burned to death?” Xie Xun rebuked her, “Girl, you talk nonsense. Every Order has its rules and rites, handed down through the generations. The Buddhist faith has the Five Precepts, the Ten Precepts, the Two Hundred and Fifty Precepts.¹⁶ Monks and nuns may not marry, may not kill, may not eat meat. Are those not rules too? What is demonic or not demonic about any of it?”

Suddenly a chattering came from Yin Li, her teeth knocking together as she shivered without cease. Zhang Wuji felt her forehead. It was still burning with fever. Clearly cold and heat were warring within her, and her illness was grave. He said, “Godfather, I too wish to return to Ling Snake Island. Miss Yin is seriously hurt, and we must find medicine to treat her. We will do our utmost. Even if we cannot save Lady Han, we must at least save Miss Yin.” Xie Xun said, “Indeed. This Miss Yin cares for you so deeply. How could we not save her? Miss Zhou, Miss Zhao, what do you two think?”

Zhao Min said, “Miss Yin’s wounds are what matter. My own are trifling. Of course we must go back to Ling Snake Island.”

Zhou Zhiruo said mildly, “If the Old Master says to go back, then we go back.”

Zhang Wuji said, “We must wait until the great fog lifts and the stars appear, so that we can determine our bearing. Godfather, that Drifting Cloud Messenger¹⁷ turned somersaults in the air and yet could still strike me with the Holy Fire Tablet.¹⁸ What was the reason for that?” The two of them fell to discussing the martial arts of the three Persian envoys. Zhao Min had learned broadly, and now and then added her own observations. But after talking for a long while, they could not guess at the essential principle behind the three men’s combined techniques.

The great fog at sea did not lift until the sun was up. Zhang Wuji said, “We came from the north towards the south-east. Now we ought to row towards the north-west.” He and Xie Xun, Zhou Zhiruo and Xiaozhao took turns at the oars. To handle a boat upon the open sea, riding the waves and breasting the swell, was no easy task. Fortunately Zhang Wuji and Xie Xun both possessed profound neili,¹⁹ while Zhou Zhiruo and Xiaozhao also had considerable cultivation. They treated the pulling of oars as an exercise in martial arts. A lone leaf of a boat, it rowed ceaselessly towards the north-west.

Over those days Xie Xun grew absorbed in thought, wrestling with the strange martial arts of the three Persian envoys. Apart from asking Zhang Wuji a few questions, he said nothing at all. On the evening of the third day, Xie Xun suddenly began to question Zhou Zhiruo closely about the martial arts of the Emei Order.²⁰ Zhou Zhiruo answered truthfully. The two of them questioned and answered until deep into the night. Xie Xun’s manner was one of profound disappointment. He said, “The martial arts of the Shaolin,²¹ Wudang and Emei Orders are all connected with the Nine Yang Manual.²² They are the same as what Wuji has learned. Though they emphasise the harmony of yin and yang, they still lean towards the yang-gang path. If Zhang Sanfeng the Perfected One²³ were here, with his vast martial learning that embraces both yang-gang and yin-rou without limit, and joined forces with Wuji, then yin and yang in concert might well overcome the three Persian envoys. But distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. If Lady Han has fallen into the hands of those three Persian envoys, what is to be done?”

Zhou Zhiruo suddenly asked, “Old Master, I have heard that a hundred years ago there were certain masters in the wulin²⁴ who were deeply versed in the Nine Yin Manual.²⁵ Is that true?”

Footnotes

1. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. The leader of a martial Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 天鹰教 – Tiānyīng Jiào. The Tianying Order, meaning Heavenly Eagle Order, founded by Yin Tianzheng after leaving the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 王盘山 – Wángpán Shān. Wang Pan Mountain, the site where the Tianying Order brandished the Dragon-Slaying Dao. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 屠龙刀 – Túlóng Dāo. The Dragon-Slaying Dao, a treasured weapon whose name holds the secret of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 金毛狮王 – Jīnmáo Shīwáng. The Golden-Haired Lion King, Xie Xun’s epithet. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 紫衫龙王 – Zǐshān Lóngwáng. The Purple-Robed Dragon King, Lady Han’s epithet in the jianghu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 波斯总教 – Bōsī Zǒngjiào. The Persian Headquarters of the Ming Order, the parent organisation from which the Central Plains Ming Order was originally established. ↩

9. 灵蛇岛 – Língshé Dǎo. Ling Snake Island, the island in the Eastern Sea where Yin Susu and Zhang Cuishan once took refuge. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 圣女 – Shèngnǚ. Holy Maiden, a title given to three chosen daughters of high-ranking members of the Persian Ming Order, from whom the next zhangmen is selected. ↩

11. 碧水寒潭 – Bìshuǐ Hán tán. The Cold Water Pool, a body of frigid water where Lady Han and Han Qianye fought and were first drawn together. ↩

12. 乾坤大挪移 – Qiánkūn Dà Nuóyí. The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, the supreme secret art of the Ming Order, capable of redirecting force and reversing qi flow. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 师父 – shīfù. Teacher and lineage father. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 里 – lǐ. A Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 metres or one-third of a mile. ↩

15. 穴道 – xuédào. Acupoints, the vital nodes along the body’s meridians through which qi flows. ↩

16. 五戒 – Wǔjiè. The Five Precepts of Buddhism: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no false speech, no intoxicants. The full monastic code runs to two hundred and fifty precepts for monks. ↩

17. 流云使 – Liúyún Shǐ. The Drifting Cloud Messenger, one of the three Persian envoys sent to the Central Plains. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 圣火令 – Shènghuǒ Lìng. The Holy Fire Tablets, sacred relics of the Ming Order carried by its messengers. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force, the kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 峨嵋派 – Éméi Pài. The Emei Order, a martial Order based on Mount Emei, founded by the Buddhist nun Guo Xiang. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 少林派 – Shàolín Pài. The Shaolin Order, the foremost Buddhist martial Order, based at Shaolin Monastery. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 九阳真经 – Jiǔyáng Zhēnjīng. The Nine Yang Manual, a legendary martial arts scripture emphasising pure yang energy. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 真人 – zhēnrén. Literally True Person. An honorific title for a Daoist master of the highest accomplishment. ↩

24. 武林 – wǔlín. The wulin, the martial forest. The community of martial artists and their codes. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 九阴真经 – Jiǔyīn Zhēnjīng. The Nine Yin Manual, a comprehensive martial encyclopedia focusing on yin-energy cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩