The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 36 – Part 4

Zhang Wuji watched the eight warriors with growing astonishment. Their martial arts were formidable indeed, nowhere inferior to He Taichong and Ban Shuxian. Three of them he recognised as Qinghai School, but the other five bore no mark of any known lineage. The world was vast, and among the grass and trees hid dragons and tigers, countless unnamed heroes and brave men waiting in obscurity.¹

The eleven fighters had exchanged over a hundred moves when the three Shaolin monks’ black whips began to shorten. A shorter whip consumed less neili² in the swinging, but lost something of its reach and suppleness in attack. After several dozen more exchanges, the whips drew in another six or seven feet.³ The two black-bearded elders pressed closer with each pass, their weapons’ menace growing as they exploited every gap and flaw, advancing step by step, striving desperately to reach the three monks. Yet the shortened whips wove a defence of remarkable tightness, the circle formed by the three black cords seeming to possess some boundless elastic force. However the two elders shifted their tactics and surged forward, they were always flung back by the whip-ring’s rebound. By now the three monks had fused their efforts into a single breath, becoming a formation of three against eight.

The three Shaolin monks strained hard to hold their ground, and each felt a bitter taste rise in his heart. Against these eight opponents they could fight on without defeat, and if the black whips shortened another eight feet, they would complete the Diamond Subduing Demon Circle.⁴ Not eight enemies, but sixteen, even thirty-two, could not break in. Yet within that circle lurked a far more dangerous foe, a young man seated in patience, waiting for the moment when both sides had fought themselves to exhaustion, so he might reap the fisherman’s gain.⁵ Should he strike now, attacking from within whilst the eight pressed from without, the three monks’ lives would be forfeit in an instant. Their neigong⁶ was now wrought to its utmost limit. They longed to cry out to Shaolin Monastery⁷ below for aid, but dare not open their mouths. At this pitch of exertion, a single word breathed forth would set their blood and qi⁸ churning in revolt. Even if it did not kill them outright, it would leave them crippled and broken within, ruined men for life. The three monks reproached themselves for their overconfidence. When the fierce attack had first come, they had not thought to summon the monastery’s fighters. Had but a handful of good men from the Bodhidharma Hall or the Arhats Hall come to their aid, they might have seen off these foes and prevailed.

Zhang Wuji had long since seen the situation as clearly as they. To take the three monks’ lives now was a matter of lifting a hand. But a true man does not take advantage of another’s peril, and besides, the three monks had been deceived by Yuanzhen and committed no grave offence against his father. Moreover, should he kill the three monks, he would then have to face those eight attackers alone, which would prove no less difficult. He lowered his head and saw a great boulder pressing down upon the mouth of the pit, leaving only a crack for Xie Xun’s breath and the passing of food. The moment, he thought, would slip away like a spark. Once the combatants outside had decided their victory or defeat, or once Shaolin Monastery sent reinforcements, his sworn father would be beyond saving. He knelt beside the stone, pressed both palms against it, and invoked the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.⁹ As his force took hold, the boulder began to move.

He had shifted the stone less than a foot when suddenly wind and force stirred behind him. Dunan¹⁰ had swung a palm towards his back. Zhang Wuji diverted the blow and borrowed its momentum. A sharp crack sounded as a great piece of his robe tore from his back and, amidst the wind and rain, fluttered away in shreds like butterflies on a gale. Yet the palm-force he had received he transmitted into the boulder, which rumbled and shifted another foot. Though he had diverted the attack and escaped internal injury, the moment it had struck him his whole body’s strength had been devoted to pushing stone, and the blow upon his back had seared him with anguish.

Dunan’s palm had been wasted, and his black whip showed a gap. One of the black-bearded elders darted at once into the whip-circle, his acupoint-striking peg¹¹ thrusting towards the hollow beneath Dunan’s left breast. The Shaolin monks’ soft whips excelled at long-range attack and were ill-suited to close fighting. Dunan struck out with his left palm, channeling neili to force aside the peg-strike. The black-bearded elder shot forward his left forefinger, jabbing at Dunan’s Danzhong acupoint.¹² Dunan cried aloud in his heart, Bad! He had not expected the elder’s One Finger Chan¹³ acupoint art to prove yet more dreadful than the peg. In that desperate instant, he had no choice but to release the whip with his right hand and raise his palm vertically to block, shielding his breast. His thumb, forefinger, and middle finger flipped out in sequence, and at once he counter-attacked. Though he had held the elder off, the whip was loose in his hand, and the old man wielding the judge’s brushes¹⁴ darted forward at once. Of the three Shaolin monks’ three whips, one was lost. The Diamond Subduing Demon Circle was broken.

Then suddenly, the end of the black whip that had fallen to the ground lifted its head like a snake playing dead that turns and strikes without warning. It lashed forth with a hiss towards the face of the judge’s-brush elder. The whip-tip had not yet reached him, but the coiled force it carried left him gasping for breath. The old man raised his brushes in haste to block. Brush met whip with a crack, and both his arms went numb. His left brush nearly flew from his grip, whilst his right was driven down against the mountain stones, sending up a spray of rock-dust and sparks. The black whip unfurled in a sweep that drove the three Qinghai swordsmen back another ten feet.¹⁵ The Diamond Subduing Demon Circle was not merely restored, but its power had grown greater than before.

Amidst the three Shaolin monks’ shock and joy, they saw that the far end of the black whip was now held in Zhang Wuji’s hand. He had never practised the Diamond Subduing Demon Circle, and in that wordless accord of mind and instant response he was far beneath Dunan. But the raw might of his neili exceeded the monk’s by a wide margin. The force the whip sent forth was like a mountain toppling and a tide overwhelming, pressing out on every side. Du’e¹⁶ and Dujie’s¹⁷ two whips lent their aid, and at once the seven men beyond the circle were driven back step by step.

Dunan bent his whole mind upon the black-bearded elder. In both martial skill and neili cultivation he surpassed him by a clear degree. Seated in his pine-tree hollow, he did not rise, but with his ten fingers struck, jabbed, flicked, hooked, pressed, swept, seized, and caught, and within a handful of moves had the elder stumbling through one perilous moment after another. The old man saw that his seven companions were in no better case, and with a great roar leapt back out of the circle.

Zhang Wuji swung the black whip back into Dunan’s hand and bent to invoke once more the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, heaving the boulder from the pit-mouth another foot or so. He leaned towards the opening that had appeared and called, “Sworn father, your son Wuji has come too late. Can you get out?”

Xie Xun said, “I will not come out. Good child, go quickly away!”

Zhang Wuji was struck with wonder. “Sworn father, has someone sealed your acupoints, or are you bound in chains?” Without waiting for Xie Xun’s answer, he leapt down into the pit with a splash. The torrential rain of the past hours had filled the pit waist-deep, and Xie Xun stood half-submerged in the water.

Zhang Wuji’s heart was heavy with grief. He reached out and held Xie Xun, feeling along his hands and feet but finding no chains or shackles. He kneaded several of the chief acupoints and could detect no sign that another had tampered with them. He gathered Xie Xun in his arms and leapt back out of the pit, seating him upon the boulder. “Now is the best chance to escape. Sworn father, let us go.” He caught hold of Xie Xun’s arm, meaning to rise at once.

But Xie Xun sat upon the stone, unmoving, and clasped his knees as he spoke. “Child, the greatest sin of my life was the killing of Grandmaster Kongjian.¹⁸ Were your sworn father in the hands of another man, he would fight to the last, but today I am held prisoner in Shaolin Monastery. I will accept death willingly, to repay the debt of Grandmaster Kongjian’s life.”

Zhang Wuji cried in distress, “You slew Grandmaster Kongjian unwittingly. It was Cheng Kun¹⁹, that villain, who wove the plot. Besides, sworn father, your family’s blood-feud remains unavenged. How can you die at Cheng Kun’s hand?”

Xie Xun sighed. “These months past, in this pit I have heard daily the three high monks chanting sutras and invoking the Buddha’s name, and heard from the monastery below the morning bell and evening drum. I have turned over my past deeds. Your sworn father’s hands are stained with the blood of so many innocent souls that a hundred deaths could not atone. Alas, in all manner of evil and sin, I have outdone Cheng Kun himself. Good child, pay no heed to me. Go down the mountain swiftly.”

The more Zhang Wuji heard, the more desperate he grew. He raised his voice. “Sworn father, if you will not go, then I must use force.” He turned and caught Xie Xun’s hands, meaning to hoist him upon his back. Just then came a clamour from the mountain path, and several voices crying loudly, “Who comes to Shaolin Monastery to make trouble?” A sound of splashing footsteps rushing, and a dozen or more figures came up the slope.

Zhang Wuji gripped Xie Xun’s legs and was about to rise when suddenly his Dazhui acupoint²⁰ at the back of his neck went numb. Xie Xun had sealed it. His hands lost their strength and he was forced to release his hold. Anguish nearly drove him to tears. “Sworn father, why must you do this?”

Xie Xun said, “Good child, the wrong you have cleared before the three high monks is mine. But the sins I have done, I must answer for myself. If you do not go now, who will settle my grudges in your stead?”

Zhang Wuji’s heart gave a start. Before him, a dozen Shaolin monks, each wielding a Chan staff or a discipline blade, were falling upon the eight men. Metal clashed on metal through several exchanges. The black-bearded elder with the judge’s brushes knew that if he fought on, he would not escape justice that day. Yet to have his great enterprise brought to ruin at the cusp of success by some nameless youth was a bitterness too sharp to bear. He called out in a clear voice, “May I ask the young hero amid the pines his honourable surname and name? He Biwu²¹ and Bu Tai²² of Hejian would know which great master has seen fit to intervene.”

Du’e’s black whip rose and he said, “This is Zhang Wuji, Order Leader of the Ming Order, a rarest master of our age. How is it the Twin Fiends of Hejian²³ do not know him?”

He Biwu, the holder of the judge’s brushes, gave a start. “Ah!” He flung his brushes up and leapt back out of the circle. The remaining seven followed him out. The Shaolin monks would have stopped them, but the eight men’s martial arts were formidable. They charged forth side by side and fled down the mountain together.

Du’e and the other two monks had heard every word that passed between Xie Xun and Zhang Wuji. They reflected that even if the young man had not taken advantage of their peril, he need only have stood by and given aid to neither side. When Bu Tai broke through the Diamond Subduing Demon Circle and reached them, given the Hejian Twin Fiends’ ruthlessness, the three monks would by now be dead. They set down their black whips and rose to their feet, pressing their palms together in a Buddhist salutation towards Zhang Wuji. In unison they said, “We are deeply indebted to Order Leader Zhang for his great virtue.”

Zhang Wuji returned the salute in haste. “It was no more than my duty. Not worth mentioning.”

Du’e said, “In today’s matter, this old monk would rightly allow Xie Xun to depart with Order Leader Zhang. When Order Leader Zhang would have rescued him just now, this old monk had no strength to prevent it. But we three brothers, under decree of our monastery’s abbot, are set to guard Xie Xun, and have sworn a heavy oath before the Buddha that unless our three lives be forfeit, we shall not loose Xie Xun from his bonds. This matter touches upon our Order’s honour of a thousand years and a hundred. We beg Order Leader Zhang’s understanding.”

Footnotes

1. 草莽间卧虎藏龙 — cǎomǎng jiān wò hǔ cáng lóng. A common saying: hidden tigers and crouching dragons among the wilds. The world is full of unknown talent. ↩

2. 内力 — nèilì. Internal force. The kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong practice. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 六七尺 — liù qī chǐ. Six or seven chi, roughly six or seven feet. ↩

4. 金刚伏魔圈 — Jīnggāng Fúmó Quān. The Diamond Subduing Demon Circle. A formation of the three Shaolin monks using their black whips, near-impenetrable when complete. ↩

5. 渔人之利 — yú rén zhī lì. The fisherman’s gain. From a fable in which a snipe and a clam lock together, and a fisherman catches both without effort. The profit taken by a bystander when others exhaust each other. ↩

6. 内功 — nèigōng. Internal cultivation. The cultivation of inner strength through breath and meditation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 少林寺 — Shàolín Sì. Shaolin Monastery. The Buddhist monastery on Mount Song, famed throughout the wulin for its martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 气 — qì. The vital life-force that flows through all living things. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 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, reversing qi flow, and manipulating the trajectory of attacks. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 渡难 — Dùnàn. The third of the three Shaolin monks guarding Xie Xun. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 打穴橛 — dǎ xué jué. An acupoint-striking peg. A short, blunt weapon used for striking acupoints. ↩

12. 膻中穴 — Dànzhōng xué. The Danzhong acupoint, located at the centre of the breastbone. ↩

13. 一指禅 — Yīzhǐ Chán. One Finger Chan. A Shaolin acupoint-striking art of great power, delivered through a single finger. ↩

14. 判官笔 — pànguān bǐ. Judge’s brushes. A pair of short, pointed steel styluses used as paired weapons. ↩

15. 丈许 — zhàng xǔ. Roughly a zhang, about ten feet. ↩

16. 渡厄 — Dù’è. The eldest of the three Shaolin monks guarding Xie Xun. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 渡劫 — Dùjié. The second of the three Shaolin monks guarding Xie Xun. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 空见 — Kōngjiàn. Grandmaster Kongjian. A Shaolin monk of great virtue, slain by Xie Xun under Cheng Kun’s deception. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 成昆 — Chéng Kūn. Cheng Kun. The villain who orchestrated the massacre of Xie Xun’s family and framed Shaolin for it. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 大椎穴 — Dàzhuī xué. The Dazhui acupoint, at the base of the neck, where the yang meridians of the hand and foot converge. Sealing it renders the arms powerless. ↩

21. 郝密 — Hǎo Mì. He Biwu. The elder who wielded the judge’s brushes, one of the Hejian Twin Fiends. ↩

22. 卜泰 — Bǔ Tài. Bu Tai. He Biwu’s companion, one of the Hejian Twin Fiends. ↩

23. 河间双煞 — héjiān shuāng shà. The Twin Fiends of Hejian. The joint epithet of He Biwu and Bu Tai, two warriors from Hejian. ↩