The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 36 – Part 2

A voice rose from underground, deep and desolate. "Cheng Kun,[^chengkun] do you still have the face to speak to me?"

Zhang Wuji recognised the voice at once. It was his sworn father’s. His heart shook. He longed to rush forward, strike Cheng Kun down and free Xie Xun,¹ but the moment he showed himself the three Shaolin eminent monks’ black ropes would descend upon him. Even if Cheng Kun did not lift a finger, he was no match for the three monks combined. He forced himself to stay hidden and thought, Once that evil monk Yuanzhen² has gone, I shall approach the three monks and explain the twists and turns of the affair. They are compassionate and honour the dharma. They cannot fail to distinguish right from wrong.

Yuanzhen sighed. “Axun,³ we are both old men now. Why cling so bitterly to old grievances? At most twenty years remain to us, and we shall return to the yellow earth together. I have wronged you in the past, and there were days I treated you well enough. Let us wipe the slate clean.”

Xie Xun heard him rambling on and paid no heed. When Yuanzhen fell silent, he said, “Cheng Kun, do you still have the face to speak to me?”

Yuanzhen repeated himself again and again, and each time Xie Xun answered with the same words: “Cheng Kun, do you still have the face to speak to me?”

Yuanzhen said coldly, “I shall allow you three days more to think. After three days, if you still will not reveal the Dragon-Slaying Dao’s⁴ whereabouts, you can imagine what measures I shall take.” He rose to his feet, bowed to the three monks, and walked down the mountain.

Zhang Wuji waited until he had gone some distance and was about to rise and address the three monks when he felt a strange disturbance in the air around him. The assault came without the slightest warning. Startled, he rolled flat along the ground at once. Two long objects swept across his face less than half a foot away, streaking past with frightful speed yet carrying not a trace of wind. They were the two black ropes. He had rolled no more than a dozen feet before a third black rope stabbed at his chest. The rope had stiffened into a straight weapon, like a long spear or a heavy staff, thrusting at him with lethal force, whilst the other two ropes coiled in from behind.

He had watched four Kunlun School masters fall to the three black ropes in the blink of an eye and knew these strange weapons were deadly indeed. Now he felt their edge firsthand, and his heart sank. His left hand reversed and seized the rope thrusting at his chest. He was about to hurl it aside when the long rope shuddered, and a wave of neili⁵ that might have toppled a mountain and upturned a sea slammed into his chest. Had that force struck home, his ribs would have snapped at once and his vital organs shattered. In that same instant his right hand swept backwards and deflected the two ropes attacking from behind, whilst his left hand wove the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth⁶ together with the Nine Yang Divine Skill,⁷ first drawing the force upward and then redirecting it outward. His body rose with the momentum, and with a soft whistling sound he shot straight into the sky.

At that moment a white glare split the sky. Three or four bolts of lightning flashed together, and two of the high monks exclaimed in surprise, seemingly astonished by Zhang Wuji’s martial arts. The lightning illuminated his figure. The three high monks raised their heads and saw that this fighter of consummate skill was nothing but a filthy-faced country youth, and were more astonished still. The three black ropes surged upward like three ink-coloured dragons, fangs bared and claws spread, sweeping in from three sides at once. Borrowing the lightning’s glare, Zhang Wuji caught a glimpse of the three monks’ features. The monk seated in the northeast had a face as black as raw iron. The monk in the northwest was sallow and dry as dead wood. The monk due south was deathly pale as paper. All three had sunken cheeks, so lean that not a trace of flesh remained, and the yellow-faced monk was blind in one eye. The five eyes of the three old monks caught the lightning’s glare and gleamed all the more keenly for it.

The three black ropes were about to entangle him. He deflected left and redirected right, coiling and winding, and borrowing the three monks’ own force he twisted the ropes together into one. The movement was the Taiji⁸ heart-method of the Wudang Order, as taught by Zhang Sanfeng,⁹ his neili forming a perfect sphere, and the neili riding the three black ropes was at once drawn into a single knotted mass. Thunder rolled in several fierce detonations, peal upon peal. The majesty of Heaven’s thunder was enough to shake the soul.

Zhang Wuji somersaulted in mid-air, hooked his left foot around the branch of a pine tree, and steadied himself. Amid the rolling thunder he called out clearly, “I, Zhang Wuji, who humbly lead the Ming Order’s¹⁰ affairs, pay my respects to the three eminent monks.” He planted his left foot upon the pine trunk, let his right foot hang in the air, and bowed. The pine branch rose and fell like a wave beneath the force of his bow. Zhang Wuji stood firm, his posture light and unhurried. Though he bowed, he held the high ground and conceded not a whisper of advantage.

The three monks felt their black ropes wound about one another by his neili. With a backwards shake they separated them.

In those three attacks and nine forms the three monks had concealed dozens of variations within each movement, dozens of killing strokes, never expecting their opponent to dissolve every one. True, each dissolution had been razor-thin from disaster. The slightest error of a hair’s breadth and his bones would have snapped, his life been snuffed out. Yet he had made it look effortless, traversing peril as though it were level ground. In all their lives the three eminent monks had never faced so formidable an opponent, and each was stirred. They did not know that Zhang Wuji had exhausted every ounce of his strength to dissolve those three attacks and nine forms, and was now using the pine branch’s rise and fall to steady the zhenqi¹¹ that had been thrown into chaos in his dantian.¹²

The martial arts Zhang Wuji had displayed embraced three divine skills: the Nine Yang Divine Skill, the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, and Taiji Fist. The somersault in mid-air, however, came from the arts inscribed upon the Holy Fire Tablets.¹³ The three Shaolin eminent monks, though masters of peerless skill, had sat in seclusion for decades, cut off from the world, and of these four arts they had not seen a single one. They sensed only that his neili bore a distant resemblance to the Shaolin Nine Yang Skill,¹⁴ yet in its depth and subtlety it far surpassed their own order’s sacred arts. When they heard him announce himself as the Ming Order’s leader, the admiration and astonishment in the three monks’ hearts turned at once to fury.

The deathly pale old monk said icily, “I had thought some great master had come, but it proves to be the demonic cult’s¹⁵ own great demon. We three have sat in seclusion for decades. Never did I expect to meet the demonic cult’s leader today. It is truly the fortune of a lifetime.”

Zhang Wuji heard him speak of “demon” this time and “demonic cult” the next. The man’s hatred of his order ran plainly deep, and he was at a loss how to begin.

The yellow-faced, one-eyed old monk spoke. “The Ming Order’s leader is Yang Dingtian!¹⁶ How can it be you?”

Zhang Wuji said, “Leader Yang passed away long ago. I am unworthy, but of late I have taken temporary charge of the Ming Order.”

The yellow-faced monk gave a single “Ah!” and said no more. In that cry seemed hidden an infinity of grief and disappointment.

Zhang Wuji thought, He is deeply grieved to hear that Leader Yang is dead. He must have been close to him in years past. My sworn father was one of Leader Yang’s old companions. If I appeal to the memory of old friendship and tell him how Leader Yang was angered to death by Yuanzhen, perhaps that will change things. He said, “You must have known Leader Yang well, Senior?”

The yellow-faced monk said, “Naturally I knew him. If I had not known the great hero Yang Dingtian, how would I have become a one-eyed man? Why would we three have sat thirty-odd years in dry meditation?” The words came out flat and level, but the grief and rancour they carried were plainly vast and deep. Zhang Wuji cried inwardly, This is bad. This is bad. From the monk’s words he gathered that the old man had lost his eye to Yang Dingtian’s hand, and that the three of them had sat in dry meditation for decades, pouring every effort into bitter training, for the sole purpose of avenging that wrong. Now to learn that their great enemy was already dead: no wonder the disappointment was crushing.

The yellow-faced monk gave a sudden clear whistle and said, “Zhang Jiaozhu,¹⁷ my dharma name is Du’e.¹⁸ This white-faced shidi¹⁹ of mine is named Du’jie,²⁰ and this dark-faced shidi is named Du’nan.²¹ With Yang Dingtian dead, our deep grievance can only be settled with the present leader. Our shizhi²² Kongjian²³ and Kongxing²⁴ both died at your order’s hands. Since you have come here, you must be confident in your defences. Decades of gratitude and grudge: let us settle the account in martial arts.”

Zhang Wuji said, “I have no quarrel with your order, Senior. I came with the sole purpose of rescuing my sworn father, the Golden-Haired Lion King Xie daxia.²⁵ Though Divine Monk Kongjian was accidentally harmed by my sworn father, there is far more to the story. As for Divine Monk Kongxing’s death, it has nothing whatever to do with our order. You three Seniors must not listen to only one side. You must see the matter clearly.”

The white-faced monk Du’jie said, “According to you, then, who killed Kongxing?”

Zhang Wuji frowned. “As far as I know, Divine Monk Kongxing was killed by warriors in the service of the Prince of Ruyang’s court.²⁶”

Du’jie said, “And who led the Prince of Ruyang’s warriors?”

“The Prince of Ruyang’s daughter,” Zhang Wuji said. “Her Mongol name is Minmin Temür,²⁷ and her Han name is Zhao Min.²⁸”

Du’jie said, “I heard Yuanzhen say that this woman has allied herself with your order, betrayed her sovereign and her father, and thrown in her lot with the Ming Order. Is that true or false?” His words pressed like a blade, each step closer than the last.

Zhang Wuji had no choice but to say, “It is true. She… she has now… betrayed the court and turned from darkness to light.”

Du’jie said in a ringing voice, “The one who killed Kongjian was the Golden-Haired Lion King Xie Xun. The one who killed Kongxing was the Ming Order’s Zhao Min. This same Zhao Min stormed Shaolin Monastery and took every one of our disciples in a single stroke. Most unforgivable of all, the Ming Order carved insulting words upon the sixteen Arhat statues in our own monastery. Add to that my shixiong’s eye and the hundred-odd years of dry meditation the three of us have endured between us. Zhang Jiaozhu, if we do not settle this account with you, with whom shall we settle it?”

Footnotes

1. 谢逊 – Xiè Xùn. Xie Xun the Golden-Haired Lion King, one of the Four Guardian Kings of the Ming Order and Zhang Wuji’s sworn father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 圆真 – Yuánzhēn. Cheng Kun’s monastic name after entering Shaolin Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 阿逊 – ā Xùn. A familiar form of address for Xie Xun, the 阿 prefix expressing intimacy. ↩

4. 屠龙刀 – Túlóng Dāo. Dragon-Slaying Dao. The legendary dao forged from Yang Guo’s Heavy Iron Sword, said to contain the secrets to supreme martial power. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force, the kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong. ↩

6. 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. ↩

7. 九阳神功 – Jiǔyáng Shéngōng. The Nine Yang Divine Skill, a legendary internal cultivation method emphasising pure yang energy. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 太极 – tàijí. The Supreme Ultimate, the philosophical principle underpinning Taiji Fist and Taiji Swordplay, embodying the balance of yin and yang. ↩

9. 张三丰 – Zhāng Sānfēng. Zhang Sanfeng, founder of the Wudang Order and Zhang Wuji’s grand shifu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 明教 – Míng Jiào. The Ming Order, a secretive martial faction whose leader is called 教主 (cult leader). See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 真气 – zhēnqì. True qi, refined energy cultivated through neigong. ↩

12. 丹田 – dāntián. The energy centre below the navel, where zhenqi is gathered and stored. ↩

13. 圣火令 – shènghuǒ lìng. The Holy Fire Tablets, twelve golden tablets of the Ming Order, symbols of authority. Inscribed upon them are profound martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 少林九阳功 – Shàolín Jiǔyáng Gōng. The Shaolin Nine Yang Skill, Shaolin Monastery’s internal cultivation art derived from the Nine Yang Manual. ↩

15. 魔教 – mó jiào. “Demonic cult,” the derogatory term used by orthodox schools for the Ming Order. ↩

16. 阳顶天 – Yáng Dǐngtiān. Yang Dingtian, the former leader of the Ming Order, whose disappearance threw the cult into turmoil. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 教主 – jiàozhǔ. The leader of a martial order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 渡厄 – Dù’è. Du’e, the yellow-faced, one-eyed leader of Shaolin Monastery’s Three Elders of Bodhidharma Hall. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 师弟 – shīdì. Male junior fellow disciple, both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Dì means younger brother. ↩

20. 渡劫 – Dùjié. Du’jie, the white-faced second of Shaolin Monastery’s Three Elders of Bodhidharma Hall. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 渡难 – Dùnàn. Du’nan, the dark-faced third of Shaolin Monastery’s Three Elders of Bodhidharma Hall. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 师侄 – shīzhí. Lineage nephew. A disciple of one’s shixiong, shidi, shijie, or shimei. Shī means teacher. Zhí means nephew or niece. ↩

23. 空见 – Kōngjiàn. Kongjian, one of Shaolin Monastery’s Four Holy Monks, slain by Xie Xun’s Lion’s Roar. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 空性 – Kōngxìng. Kongxing, one of Shaolin Monastery’s Four Holy Monks, killed by warriors in the service of the Yuan court. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 谢大侠 – Xiè Dàxiá. A respectful form of address for Xie Xun, combining his surname with daxia, a title for a great hero of the jianghu. ↩

26. 汝阳王 – Rǔyáng Wáng. The Prince of Ruyang. Zhao Min’s father, a senior Mongol nobleman and commander in the Yuan court. ↩

27. 敏敏特穆儿 – Mǐnmǐn Tèmù’ér. Minmin Temür, Zhao Min’s Mongol name. ↩

28. 赵敏 – Zhào Mǐn. Zhao Min, daughter of the Prince of Ruyang, her Mongol name Minmin Temür. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩