The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 36: Three Vigorous Pines of Lush Verdure

Three pines coil heavenward, dark and lush, and beneath them, three ancient monks sit in silence, their black ropes coiling like serpents in the rain.

Rain fell in torrents, loosening the patrols atop the monastery walls and across the rooftops. Using the corners of walls and tree trunks for cover, Zhang Wuji tracked Yuanzhen¹ as the monk leapt over the rear enclosure wall. “So my sworn father is imprisoned outside the monastery,” he thought. “No wonder I could find not a single trace of him within.” He dared not leap over the wall openly but pressed himself flat against it, inching upward until he reached the top. Waiting until the patrolling monks on the other side had passed, he dropped down on the far side. Through curtains of rain, he could see the top of Yuanzhen’s umbrella already a thousand feet north of the monastery, veering left toward a small peak. The monk then began to scale the summit with astonishing speed. Though Yuanzhen was now past seventy, his movements remained as agile as a young man’s: his umbrella never wavered as he ascended, rising as steadily as though hoisted by an invisible rope.

Zhang Wuji hurried to the base of the peak and was about to climb when a faint glint of white light among the grass beside the path caught his eye: the gleam of hidden blades. He froze at once. After a moment, four figures emerged from the undergrowth, three in front and one behind, all racing toward the summit. From a distance, he could see that the peak bore nothing but a few ancient pines and no buildings at all. Where, then, was Xie Xun² imprisoned? Seeing no one else about, he followed the four climbers upward.

The four ahead were skilled in qinggong,³ but he quickened his pace until he was a mere two hundred feet behind them. In the darkness, he could just make out that one was a woman, while the three men wore civilian clothes. “These four have likely come to threaten my sworn father as well,” he thought. “Let them fight Yuanzhen first. I need not intervene yet.” As they neared the summit, the four quickened their pace still further. Then he suddenly recognised two of their silhouettes. “Ah, those are He Taichong⁴ and Ban Shuxian⁵ of the Kunlun School, husband and wife.”

Suddenly, Yuanzhen unleashed a long whistle, spun on his heel, and charged back down the slope. Zhang Wuji immediately flattened himself into the roadside grass, crawling leftward for several dozen feet. The clash of weapons rang out: Yuanzhen had already engaged the newcomers. From the sound of the collisions, it was two men fighting Yuanzhen alone. Zhang Wuji’s mind stirred: “The other two are not joining the fight: they have gone to the summit to find my sworn father.” He scrambled urgently up through the tangled undergrowth.

Reaching the top, he found a bare stretch of flat ground with no buildings at all. Only three tall pines stood there, arranged in a triangular formation, their trunks soaring skyward, their branches writhing and coiling like dragons. He was secretly puzzled: “Could it be that my sworn father is not imprisoned here after all?”

A rustling came from the undergrowth to his right, and someone was crawling about. Then Ban Shuxian’s voice whispered, “We must act quickly: the two shidis⁶ may not be able to hold that Shaolin monk for long.” He Taichong replied, “Yes.” The two rose and lunged toward the three pines. Fearing that Xie Xun might be hidden nearby, Zhang Wuji dared not take the slightest risk and continued crawling forward through the grass.

Suddenly, He Taichong cried out “Hey!” as if wounded. Looking up, Zhang Wuji saw him standing among the three pines, his long jian slashing wildly. He had already engaged an opponent. Yet no foe was visible. Only occasionally came dull thwacks, as though the jian had struck some strange weapon. He was greatly puzzled and crept a few steps closer. When his eyes adjusted, the sight nearly made him cry out in shock.

Recessed into the trunks of two of the pines were hollow cavities, each just large enough to hold a person. Inside each cavity sat an elderly monk, wielding a long black rope that lashed out at He Taichong and Ban Shuxian. A third pine, its back to Zhang Wuji, also had a black rope whipping out from within. Presumably another monk was concealed inside. In the darkness, the three ropes were utterly black and lightless. Their strikes came without warning and departed without sound. He Taichong and Ban Shuxian frantically wielded their jian in tight defence, but since they could not see where the ropes came from, they had no opening for a counterattack. The three ropes moved with a deceptive languor that was in truth blindingly fast, yet not a whisper of wind accompanied them. In the downpour, atop the lonely peak at night, the three long ropes moved like ghosts and phantoms, unspeakably eerie.

The He family couple shouted repeatedly, struggling to break free from the three-sided enclosure formed by the pines, but every attempt to burst outward was beaten back by the ropes. Zhang Wuji watched in silent astonishment. The black ropes swung without the slightest sound, revealing that their wielders possessed internal power of extraordinary purity, refined to a level beyond any edge he could detect. His heart pounded with alarm: “Yuanzhen said my sworn father is guarded by his three grand shishus.⁷ These must be those three venerable monks. Their skill is truly unfathomably deep!”

A cry of anguish rang out as He Taichong took a black rope to the back and was hurled tumbling from the circle. Ban Shuxian, distraught with grief and terror, lost her concentration for a single instant. All three ropes fell upon her at once, winding around her body and flinging her out as well.

Yuanzhen, fighting as he advanced up the peak, saw the wounded couple lying on the ground, unable to rise. He calmly drew his jian and thrust once into each of them, ending the lives of He Taichong and Ban Shuxian.

The two sturdy men who had been fighting Yuanzhen were both stalwarts of the Kunlun School. Yuanzhen’s martial arts were originally superior to theirs, but he had deliberately feigned weakness to lure them between the pines. When the two were still several dozen feet from the trees, they suddenly beheld He Taichong’s corpse and halted as one. Before they could react, two black ropes looped silently behind their heads, each encircling one man at the waist. The ropes snapped taut, whipping them high into the air and slamming them to the ground. The two men fell, bellowing in pain, unable to rise. Yuanzhen rushed forward, his jian flashing twice more, and killed them both.

Zhang Wuji watched as the three elderly monks dispatched four of the Kunlun School’s finest experts in the space of a few breaths, handling them with contemptuous ease, as though the task were child’s play. Their skill was among the highest he had ever witnessed. Though it might not have reached the unfathomable depths of his Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng,⁸ it had certainly attained a realm of near-divine illumination. That the Shaolin Order⁹ still harboured such ancient elders was something even his Grandmaster and Yang Xiao,¹⁰ he suspected, had not known. Seeing Yuanzhen strike with such ruthless cruelty, sheltering behind the three monks as his shield, Zhang Wuji’s heart hammered wildly. He lay motionless in the grass, not daring to stir.

Yuanzhen kicked the bodies of He Taichong, Ban Shuxian, and the other two into the deep valley one by one. The corpses fell, and it was a long while before the dull thuds echoed back up. Zhang Wuji thought to himself, He Taichong repaid kindness with enmity, and today sought to harm my sworn father and seize the Dragon-Slaying Dao.¹¹ His character was base, but his martial prowess was formidable: he was truly a grand master of his generation. That he should meet such an end…

Yuanzhen’s voice rose in respectful address, “Three Grand Shishu, your divine skill is without peer in this world. With a casual gesture, you have wounded four Kunlun experts. This humble disciple is filled with boundless admiration beyond all words.” One of the old monks grunted and said, “The intruders were already wounded. Driving them off the peak should have sufficed. Why take their lives?” Yuanzhen replied, “Yes! The Abbot shishu said that those who come to rescue Xie Xun are all the most vicious and wicked villains of the wulin, and that no mercy should be shown to them. This disciple feared the intruders might be too fierce and show disrespect to the grand shishu, so I took heavier measures.” The old monk grunted again and said no more. Yuanzhen continued: “Acting on the Abbot shishu’s orders, I have come respectfully to pay my respects to the three shishus, and I also have a few words to say to the prisoner.”

A withered voice spoke, “Kongjian¹² was a nephew-disciple of surpassing virtue and skill. The three of us cherished him above all, hoping he would carry forward the martial legacy of the Shaolin Order. Alas, his life was cut short by that villain’s hand. The three of us have been in sealed meditation for decades, long withdrawn from worldly affairs. It was only for Kongjian’s sake that we came to this peak. Since that villain deserves death a thousand times over and refuses all instruction, simply dispatch him quickly. Why all this tedious prattle, disturbing our three men’s cultivation of purity?”

Yuanzhen bowed and said, “The grand shishu’s instruction is correct. It is only that the Abbot shishu said: though my own master was murdered by that villain, my master’s skill was of such a calibre that no single man could have accomplished the deed. Imprisoning the villain here and assigning the three grand shishus to sit guard serves a twofold purpose. First, to lure the villain’s accomplices to attempt a rescue, so that we may eliminate all those who harmed my master, leaving none at large. Second, to compel him to surrender the Dragon-Slaying Dao, lest it fall into the hands of another faction who would usurp the title of ‘Supreme in the Wulin’ and tarnish our Order’s prestige of a thousand years.”

Zhang Wuji ground his teeth in silent fury. “That villain Yuanzhen deserves to be hacked to death ten thousand times, yet even that would not atone for his crimes. With his glib tongue, he has coaxed these three high monks, who have not left their retreat for decades, into serving his schemes, using their hands to slaughter the finest of the wulin.” He heard one of the old monks grunt: “Speak to him, then.”

The great rain still fell without cease, thunder rolling unbroken. Yuanzhen walked between the three pines, knelt on the ground, and spoke toward the earth: “Well? Have you thought it through? You need only reveal where the Dragon-Slaying Dao is hidden, and I shall release you at once.”

Zhang Wuji was astonished. “Why is he speaking to the ground? Could there be a dungeon below, with my sworn father imprisoned inside?”

Suddenly, a clear-voiced elderly monk spoke in anger: “Yuanzhen, a monk does not speak falsehoods. Why do you deceive him? If he reveals the hiding place of the Dao, would you truly let him go?” Yuanzhen replied, “grand shishu, your discernment is clear: this disciple reasons that though our master’s enmity runs deep, when weighed against the two, the prestige of our Order must take precedence. Once he reveals the Dao’s hiding place and our Order obtains the treasure, we may let him go. Three years hence, this disciple will seek him out to avenge our master.” The old monk said, “That is acceptable. In the wulin, honour and righteousness come first. A word spoken is an arrow loosed. Even toward the most heinous villains, a Shaolin disciple must not break his word.” Yuanzhen said, “I humbly accept the grand shishu’s instruction.”

Zhang Wuji thought, These three high monks are not only unmatched in martial arts but also honourable and virtuous. They have simply fallen into Yuanzhen’s treacherous scheme without realising it. He heard Yuanzhen bark toward the ground once more: “A-Xun,¹³ did you hear what the three grand shishus said? They have agreed to let you go.”

Footnotes

1. 圆真 – Yuánzhēn. His dharma name meaning “Complete Truth.” The monastic identity taken by Cheng Kun on entering the Shaolin Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 谢逊 – Xiè Xùn. His name meaning “Modest” or “Yielding.” His courtesy name Tuisi (退思) meaning “Retreat and Reflect.” One of the Four Dharma Kings of the Ming Order, bearing the epithet the Golden-Haired Lion King. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 轻功 – qīnggōng. Literally qinggong. Ability to move with superhuman agility, and weightlessness through qi redistribution to leap over trees and roofs, and skip over water. See Wikipedia. ↩

4. 何太冲 – Hé Tàichōng. Master of the Kunlun School, known as the “Gentleman of the Lute”, 铁琴先生. A skilled swordsman but a morally ambiguous character. ↩

5. 班淑娴 – Bān Shūxián. He Taichong’s wife and fellow master of the Kunlun School. ↩

6. 师弟 – shīdì. Male junior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Dì means younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 太师叔 – tài shīshū. Rendered Grand Shishu. Shishu¹⁴ of one’s shifu, two generations above oneself. See §IV.11e. ↩

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

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

10. 杨逍 – Yáng Xiāo. His name meaning “Free and Unfettered.” The Left Messenger of the Brightness in the Ming Order, and Yang Buhui’s father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 屠龙刀 – Túlóng Dāo. Literally dragon-slaying dao. Legendary blade said to confer supremacy over the wulin, and the prize of the Slaying-the-Lion Assembly. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 空见 – Kōngjiàn. Divine monk of the Shaolin Order, foremost among the Four Divine Monks known as ‘Divine Monks: Seeing, Hearing, Wisdom, and Nature’ (神僧见闻智性). See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 阿逊 – Ā Xùn. An informal, familiar form of Xie Xun’s name. ↩

14. 师叔 – shīshū. Junior lineage uncle. Shidi or shimei of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Shū means father’s younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩