The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 36 – Part 5

Zhang Wuji grunted and did not reply.

Du’e¹ spoke again, “Our grudge for the loss of our eyes is settled this day. Should Order Leader Zhang wish to save Xie Xun,² you need only come at any time. Break the three of us brothers’ Diamond Subduing Demon Circle,³ and you may take the Lion King⁴ away at once. You may bring more helpers, Order Leader Zhang. Wheel-fighting or rushing all at once, the three of us brothers will face the lot. Before your next visit, the three of us shall keep Xie Xun safe from harm, and will not suffer Yuanzhen to insult him with so much as a word or touch him with so much as a hair’s breadth.”

Zhang Wuji cast a glance at Xie Xun. In the darkness he could only make out the great shape of him, long hair hanging over his shoulders, head bowed as he stood. He seemed lost in deep repentance for the sins of years past, not a trace remaining of the awe-inspiring might he had once commanded. Tears nearly broke from Zhang Wuji’s eyes. He thought, I cannot beat them today, and sworn father will not leave. There is nothing for it but to fetch grandfather and Left Messenger Yang and Right Messenger Fan and come again.⁵ That ring of force wrought from three black whips is like walls of copper and a barrier of iron. Had Dunan⁶ not struck me in the back just now, Bu Tai⁷ could never have broken through. Next time, even with grandfather and the Bright Left and Right Messengers to help, whether we can break it or not is far from certain. He sighed within himself. One step at a time, for now. Aloud he said, “If that is so, I shall certainly return to test the three high masters’ skills.” He turned and wrapped his arms about Xie Xun’s waist. “Sworn father, your son goes.”

Xie Xun nodded and stroked his hair. “You need not come back to rescue me. I have made up my mind not to leave. Good child, may you turn misfortune to fortune in all you do, and not disappoint your parents’ hopes, nor mine. Follow your father’s example. Do not follow your sworn father.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Father and sworn father are both heroes and brave men,⁸ both open and upright gentlemen, both good examples for your son.” He bowed low, and in a flicker of movement was already past the ring of the three pines. He raised a hand in salute to the three Shaolin monks, unleashed his qinggong,⁹ and vanished in an instant. Only his clear whistling remained, and within moments it was already over a li¹⁰ away.

The Shaolin monks gathered at the mountainside looked at one another in astonishment. They had long heard that Order Leader Zhang of the Ming Order possessed extraordinary martial arts, but they had not imagined such wonder as this.

Zhang Wuji, knowing his presence was now revealed, resolved to display his prowess in earnest, so that the Shaolin monks might fear for their prisoner’s safety and treat Xie Xun well. That long whistle of his was fed full from his zhongqi,¹¹ unbroken and unceasing, flying out through the great thunder and rain like a long dragon traversing the sky. He drove his feet at full speed, running ever faster, and the whistle grew ever louder. The thousand-odd monks in Shaolin Monastery¹² were all roused from sleep, and only as the whistle faded into the distance did they begin to murmur amongst themselves. Kongwen¹³ and Kongzhi¹⁴ knew at once that Zhang Wuji had been there, and each felt a fresh weight of unease.

Zhang Wuji had run several li when suddenly, from behind a willow tree beside the path, a voice called, “Hey!” A figure leapt out. It was Zhao Min.¹⁵

Zhang Wuji cut off his whistle and stopped. He reached out and took her hand, seeing her soaked through by the rain, water streaming ceaselessly from her hair and down her face. Zhao Min asked, “Did you fight the Shaolin monks?”

“Yes.”

“What of Xie daxia?¹⁶ Did you see him?”

Zhang Wuji took her arm and walked slowly with her through the rain, telling her in brief what had passed.

Zhao Min pondered. “Did you ask him how he came to be poisoned and lose his dao on the island?”

“I was thinking only of how to save him. The moment was urgent, and I had no time for such side matters.”

Zhao Min sighed and fell silent.

Zhang Wuji said, “Are you unhappy?”

“A side matter to you, perhaps. To me it is the crucial thing. Very well, once we have rescued Xie daxia there will be time to ask. I only fear…”

“Fear what? You are worried we cannot save my sworn father?”

“The Ming Order is far stronger than the Shaolin Order. To rescue Xie daxia, we shall manage it in the end. What I fear is that Xie daxia has set his mind on death, to follow Divine Monk Kongjian¹⁷ in the grave.”

Zhang Wuji had been troubled by the same thought. “Do you think he would?”

“I hope not.”

They talked as they walked and came to the cottage of the Du couple. Zhao Min laughed. “Your tracks are exposed now. You cannot hide from these two any longer.”

Zhang Wuji saw the thatched door standing half-open. He pushed it wider, shook his body to cast off some of the rain, and stepped inside. Suddenly the smell of blood reached his nostrils. His heart jolted. His left palm shot backwards, thrusting Zhao Min out through the door. In the darkness a hand came clawing at him, soundless and swift beyond measure. By the time he sensed it, the fingers had already touched his cheek. Zhang Wuji had no time to dodge. His left foot lashed out at the attacker’s chest. The figure hooked back with a reverse elbow, the elbow-strike driving at the Huantiao acupoint¹⁸ on his leg. The move was vicious in the extreme. Had Zhang Wuji drawn his leg back to avoid, the attacker’s left hand would have gouged out both his eyes. Instead he snatched upwards with a feint, guessing his foe with uncanny precision, and caught the left hand squarely in his palm. At that very instant, numbness and pain flared at the Huantiao acupoint. His footing gave way and he dropped to his right knee.

He was about to seize the moment and wrench the attacker’s wrist apart when he felt the hand he held: warm, soft, smooth. A woman’s hand. His heart stirred, and he did not press his grip. Instead he swung the figure outward in the momentum of her own attack. A dull thunk. A searing pain in his right shoulder. A short blade had found him.

The figure leapt out of the cottage and struck at Zhao Min’s face with an open palm. Zhang Wuji knew Zhao Min could never block it. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he sprang up and struck out with his own palm. The two palms met. The attacker’s body swayed, her feet stumbling. Borrowing the force of the clashing palms, she shot backwards several tens of feet and vanished into the darkness.

Zhao Min cried in alarm, “Who was that?”

Zhang Wuji grunted. The huozhezi¹⁹ in his robe had been soaked through by the rain and would not spark. Fearing the short blade in his right shoulder might be poisoned, he did not pull it out at once. “Light the lamp.”

Zhao Min went to the kitchen and fetched the fire-steel and flint. She lit the oil lamp and saw the short blade lodged in his shoulder. A great shock.

Zhang Wuji examined the blade’s edge and saw no sign of poison. He laughed. “A scratch. Nothing to worry about.” He pulled the blade out there and then, and turned to look. Du Baidang²⁰ and Yi Sanniang²¹ were huddled in the corner of the room. He forgot his bleeding wound and rushed to them. They had been dead a long while.

Zhao Min cried, “When I went out they were still alive and well.”

Zhang Wuji nodded. He waited for Zhao Min to bind his wound, then took up the short blade and examined it. It was the very weapon the Du couple had used. Throughout the room, in the beams, the pillars, the table, and the floor, short knives stood thrust thick, showing that the attacker had fought the Du couple in fierce combat, knocking their knives from their hands one by one before moving in to kill.

Zhao Min said in horror, “That person’s martial arts are terrifying.”

In the darkness just now, had Zhang Wuji not reacted quickly enough, divining that the attacker meant to claw his eyes, he would by now be blind, and in all likelihood Zhao Min would be lying dead beside him. He looked again at the bodies of Du Baidang and his wife. The dozens of ribs across the chest were each broken into several pieces, and the ribs along the back no less. Plainly the work of a palm-force of the most vicious and dreadful sort. He had faced great foes and passed through grave perils more than once, but reflecting on those three exchanges in the dark room, swift as a hare rising and a falcon swooping, the more he turned it over the more alarmed he grew. Tonight’s two fierce battles: the first, one against three, had lasted long, but for heart-stopping terror it could not match the second, with its handful of moves in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Min asked again, “Who was it?”

Zhang Wuji shook his head and did not answer.

Zhao Min understood of a sudden. Fear showed in her eyes. She stood frozen for a long moment, then threw herself into his arms and wept.

Both knew what had passed. Had Zhao Min not heard Zhang Wuji’s whistle and run out into the rain to meet him, she would have escaped the calamity, and at this moment there would be three dead in the corner of the room, not two. Zhang Wuji patted her back gently and spoke soft words of comfort.

Zhao Min said, “That person meant to kill me. She killed the Du couple first and hid here to ambush me. She never meant to harm you.”

Zhang Wuji said, “In the days to come, you must not leave my side on any account.” He paused, then added, “In less than a year, how could neili²² and martial arts advance so swiftly? In all the world, apart from myself, I fear there is no one who can keep you safe.”

The next morning, Zhang Wuji took Du Baidang’s hoe and dug a deep pit. He buried the Du couple, and he and Zhao Min knelt and bowed several times. Thinking of how Yi Sanniang had treated them both with kindness and tenderness, neither could help but grieve.

Suddenly the bell of Shaolin Monastery rang out without ceasing, its clamour reaching them from afar, urgent in the extreme. Then a green signal fire shot skyward in the east. In the south, red. In the west, white. In the north, black. And from several li away, a yellow fire rose as well. Five signal fires encircled Shaolin Monastery.

Zhang Wuji cried, “The Ming Order’s Five Elements Banners have all arrived. They are attacking the Shaolin Order head-on. Quick!”

He and Zhao Min changed clothes in haste, washed the mud from their hands and faces, and ran towards Shaolin Monastery at speed.

They had gone only several li when they came upon a column of white-robed Ming Order members bearing small yellow flags, making their way up the mountain.

Zhang Wuji called, “Is Banner Chief Yan here?”

Yan Yuan,²³ Banner Chief of the Thick Earth Banner, heard the call and turned to see the Order Leader. Overjoyed, he hurried forward to pay his respects. The Order members beneath the banner raised a great cheer and bowed as one.

Yan Yuan reported that when the Ming Order’s heroes had learned of Xie Xun’s whereabouts, they had discussed the matter and concluded that if they waited until the Double Ninth Festival,²⁴ when the heroes of the realm would gather at Shaolin, to press their claim, they would be forced to fight the whole world at once. Unable to reach the Order Leader, they had no choice but to act on expediency. Under the lead of Yang Xiao²⁵ and Fan Yao,²⁶ they had assembled the Order’s finest fighters before the Double Ninth and marched on Shaolin Monastery to demand Xie Xun’s release. A great battle was likely, and that they accepted. But they had searched everywhere without finding the Order Leader, and the feeling of a dragon without a head had weighed upon them all.

The Order members sounded the horn to announce the Order Leader’s arrival. Before long, Yang Xiao, Fan Yao, Yin Tianzheng,²⁷ Wei Yixiao,²⁸ Yin Yewang,²⁹ Zhou Dian,³⁰ Peng Yingyu,³¹ Cannot Tell,³² the Iron Crown Adept,³³ and others arrived in turn from every quarter. The Sharp Gold, Giant Wood, Flood Water, and Blazing Fire banners encircled Shaolin Monastery on four sides. When they saw one another, all were filled with joy. Yang Xiao and Fan Yao offered their apologies for having acted without authority.

Footnotes

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

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

3. 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. ↩

4. 狮王 – Shī Wáng. The Lion King. Xie Xun’s title among the Ming Order’s four Guardian Kings. ↩

5. 杨左使、范右使 – Yáng zuǒshǐ, Fàn yòushǐ. Left Messenger Yang (Yang Xiao) and Right Messenger Fan (Fan Yao), the Bright Left and Right Messengers of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

7. 卜泰 – Bǔ Tài. Bu Tai. One of the Hejian Twin Fiends, a warrior of formidable skill. ↩

8. 英雄好汉 – yīngxióng hǎohàn. Heroes and brave men. A fixed doublet praising those of surpassing courage and integrity. ↩

9. 轻功 – qīnggōng. Lightness skill. The martial art of movement, enabling extraordinary speed and agility. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 里 – lǐ. A Chinese unit of distance, approximately a third of a mile or five hundred metres. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 中气 – zhōngqì. Central qi. The reservoir of breath and vital force in the body’s core, sustaining prolonged exertion. ↩

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

13. 空闻 – Kōngwén. Kongwen. Abbot of Shaolin Monastery. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 空智 – Kōngzhì. Kongzhi. A hot-tempered senior monk of Shaolin Monastery. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 赵敏 – Zhào Mǐn. Zhao Min. Daughter of the Prince of Ruyang and Zhang Wuji’s beloved. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 谢大侠 – Xiè dàxiá. Xie daxia. A term of respect for Xie Xun. Daxia means great hero, a title for a renowned martial artist of proven chivalry. ↩

17. 空见 – Kōngjiàn. Divine Monk Kongjian. A Shaolin monk of great virtue, slain by Xie Xun under Cheng Kun’s deception. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 环跳穴 – Huántiào xué. The Huantiao acupoint, located on the outer hip. A strike here causes numbness and loss of footing. ↩

19. 火折子 – huǒzhézi. A tinder tube: rolled paper or fibre treated with saltpetre, kept smouldering in a tube and revived with a puff of breath. ↩

20. 杜百当 – Dū Bǎidāng. Du Baidang. A martial artist who, with his wife Yi Sanniang, had been sheltering Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min. ↩

21. 易三娘 – Yì Sānniáng. Yi Sanniang. Du Baidang’s wife, who had treated Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min with great kindness. ↩

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

23. 颜垣 – Yán Yuán. Yan Yuan. Banner Chief of the Thick Earth Banner of the Ming Order. ↩

24. 重阳节 – Chóngyáng Jié. The Double Ninth Festival, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. A traditional day for gathering and for martial assemblies. ↩

25. 杨逍 – Yáng Xiāo. Yang Xiao the Bright Left Messenger, the Ming Order’s acting leader in Zhang Wuji’s absence. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

26. 范遥 – Fàn Yáo. Fan Yao the Bright Right Messenger, also known as Bitter Dhūta, a Ming Order spy of long standing. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

27. 殷天正 – Yīn Tiānzhèng. Yin Tianzheng the White Brows Eagle King, founder of the Tianying Order and Zhang Wuji’s maternal grandfather. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

28. 韦一笑 – Wéi Yīxiào. Wei Yixiao the Green Winged Bat King, one of the Ming Order’s four Guardian Kings, famed for his qinggong. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

29. 殷野王 – Yīn Yěwáng. Yin Yewang. Son of Yin Tianzheng and brother of Yin Susu, Zhang Wuji’s mother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

30. 周颠 – Zhōu Diān. Zhou Dian the Lunatic, one of the Ming Order’s Five Unbound Adepts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

31. 彭莹玉 – Péng Yíngyù. Peng Yingyu the Monk, one of the Ming Order’s Five Unbound Adepts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

32. 说不得 – Shuōbùdé. Cannot Tell, the Monk with the Sack, one of the Ming Order’s Five Unbound Adepts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

33. 铁冠道人 – Tiěguān Dàorén. The Iron Crown Adept. Also known as Zhang Zhong, one of the Ming Order’s Five Unbound Adepts. ↩