The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 38 – Part 7

Zhou Zhiruo, however, did not engage the three monks head-on. She fought along the periphery of the formation, and whenever a gap appeared in the Diamond Subduing Demon Circle,¹ she would dart forward, but the moment a black cord swept to intercept her, she would leap away, graceful as a startled swan.

The contrast between Zhang Wuji’s and Zhou Zhiruo’s martial cultivation became immediately apparent. Among the gathered heroes watching from the sidelines, not a few whispered to one another: “In recent years the wulin² has held that Order Leader Zhang of the Ming Order stands unmatched in martial arts today. The reputation is well earned. Yesterday he deliberately yielded to Madam Song, a good man does not fight with a woman, that is what they call it.”

“What do you mean, a good man does not fight with a woman? Madam Song was originally Order Leader Zhang’s wife, did you not know? That is called… devotion to the old blade!”

“Pah! The saying is ‘devotion to the old sword’³, since when is there ‘devotion to the old blade’?”

“Can you not see the two iron rods in Order Leader Zhang’s hands?”

“And afterwards Madam Song still did not strike Order Leader Zhang dead, would that not be ‘devotion to the old hand’?”

The three Shaolin monks and Zhang Wuji drew out their moves ever more slowly, each variation growing ever more subtle. Zhou Zhiruo’s martial arts excelled wholly in the bizarre and fantastical. Her subduing of the two Wudang xias had been the peak of her achievement. But in neigong⁴ cultivation she remained far inferior to Yu Lianzhou and Yin Liting. Now that Zhang Wuji and the three Shaolin monks were each pitting their true skill against one another, with no room for the slightest trickery, she found she could no longer insert herself into the exchange. Sometimes she would flick her soft whip forward in attack, but the moment it touched the combined neili⁵ of the four combatants, she was bounced away at once.

After fighting for another fraction of a shichen,⁶ the Nine Yang Divine Skill⁷ surged through Zhang Wuji’s body, and the Holy Fire Tablets⁸ began to emit a hissing sound. The three Shaolin monks’ complexions, which had each been different, now all turned crimson as blood. Their monk robes billowed outward as though inflated by a fierce wind. Yet Zhang Wuji’s robes showed no such disturbance. The difference in their levels was plain. Had he been fighting one against one, or even one against two, he would have won long ago. The Nine Yang zhenqi⁹ he cultivated was inherently profound beyond compare, coupled with Zhang Sanfeng’s guidance in the breath-cultivation methods of the Taiji Fist,¹⁰ it grew ever stronger the longer he fought and was best suited for endurance. He could genuinely have continued battling for another shichen or two, waiting for his opponents’ qi to fade and their strength to exhaust. The three Shaolin monks, having fought to this point, had already seen that prolonged battle favoured them not. Suddenly they raised a combined shout, their three black cords spinning rapidly, cord-shadows criss-crossing, seeming both real and illusory. Zhang Wuji stared at the incoming force, dismantling each strand in turn, but anxiety gnawed at him: “Zhiruo’s martial techniques may be strange, but after all she has trained for too short a time to match the combined might of my maternal grandfather and Left Messenger Yang. If I cannot hold out alone, it seems today I shall be defeated once more. And if I cannot rescue my sworn father this time, what is to be done?”

His alarm surged, and for an instant his neili faltered. The three monks seized the opening to press their attack, and the danger multiplied around him. In Zhang Wuji’s mind a thought flashed like lightning: he remembered Xie Xun’s tenderness towards him on Ice Fire Island in years past, and how after Xie Xun had gone blind he had still dared risk everything to re-enter the jianghu¹¹, all for Zhang Wuji’s sake. If he could not rescue him today, he had no wish to live alone. He saw Dunan’s black cord sweeping in from behind, and cared no longer for his own life or safety. His left arm shot up to take the strike, letting the cord smash against his forearm whilst the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth¹² diverted its force. His right hand raised the Holy Fire Tablet to block the twin cords of Du’e and Dujie, and suddenly he launched himself leftward like a great bird, wheeled once in the air, and had already wrapped Dunan’s black cord around the pine tree where Dunan sat.

This move was truly beyond imagination. Zhang Wuji’s left arm surged with force as he pulled fiercely backwards, seeking to embed the black cord deep into the pine trunk. Dunan, greatly alarmed, yanked backwards in a panic. Zhang Wuji shifted tactics with astonishing speed, pulling along with Dunan’s own momentum. The pine trunk, though thick, had been hollowed out by half at its base by the three monks to shelter them from wind and rain. Now bound by an extraordinarily tough black cord and pulled simultaneously by two streams of neili, Zhang Wuji’s and Dunan’s, a tremendous crack rang out. The pine snapped at the hollowed place and toppled through the air.

Seizing the instant when Du’e and Dujie stood stunned, Zhang Wuji unleashed both palms with a great shout and drove them towards the green pine where Du’e sat. That palm-strike concentrated all the power of his lifetime, and the pine could not withstand it. It snapped at once. The two fallen pines, branches and leaves intact, crashed together towards the pine where Dujie sat. The twin falling trunks already carried several thousand jin¹³ of force. Zhang Wuji launched himself into the air and kicked off a third pine with both feet. That tree too snapped, and swayed and toppled slowly through the air.

The sound of snapping pines and the cries of startled onlookers rose as one. Zhang Wuji hurled the two Holy Fire Tablets in his hands with all his might at Du’e and Dujie. The two monks, forced both to dodge the falling pines and to contend with the flying tablets, were thrown into confusion.

Zhang Wuji ducked low and rolled along the ground beneath the tilting trunk not yet fully fallen, and so penetrated to the heart of the Diamond Subduing Demon Circle. Employing the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, he thrust both palms forward and turned right. The great stone covering the dungeon was pushed aside. He called out, “Sworn father, come out quickly!” Fearing Xie Xun might refuse to leave again, without waiting for his answer he reached down, seized him by the back of his robe, and lifted him up.

Just then the cords of Du’e and Dujie arrived together. Zhang Wuji was forced to set Xie Xun down. He drew two more Holy Fire Tablets from his robe and hurled them at the two monks. His hands moved swift as lightning and seized the tails of both black cords. Du’e and Dujie were about to channel their neili to wrench the cords back when the Holy Fire Tablets struck towards their faces. The tablets arrived so fast there was no time to think. The two monks had no choice but to release the cords and leap backwards, barely avoiding the strike. By this time Dunan’s left palm was already striking towards his chest. Zhang Wuji cried urgently, “Zhiruo, trip him now!” He twisted his body and flashed sideways, scooping up Xie Xun. If he could but carry his sworn father clear of the space between the three pines, the Shaolin Order¹⁴ would have no cause for complaint.

Zhou Zhiruo gave a snort and hesitated for a moment. Dunan’s right palm followed. Zhang Wuji twisted his body slightly, turning his vital acupoints¹⁵ away from the blow and letting the palm strike his shoulder instead.

He held Xie Xun and was about to dash out between the three broken pines. Xie Xun said, “Wuji, my child, my life has been heavy with sin. Here I listen to the sutras and make confession, and my heart is at peace. Why must you rescue me from this place?”

Zhang Wuji knew his sworn father’s martial arts were formidable. If he stubbornly refused to leave, it would be difficult to manage. He said, “Sworn father, forgive your son’s offence!” His right hand flashed five times in succession, striking several acupoints between Xie Xun’s thighs and chest, rendering him temporarily unable to move.

But that brief delay was enough. The three Shaolin monks’ palms struck simultaneously, and together they roared, “Leave him behind!” Zhang Wuji saw that the three monks’ palm-force covered all directions. Before their palms even arrived, the wind of their strikes already pressed upon him coldly. He had no choice but to set Xie Xun down and raise his own palms to resist. He called, “Zhiruo, carry my sworn father out!” His palms wove in circles, channelling palm-force against the three monks so that none of them could disengage to stop Zhou Zhiruo. This was among the most profound arts of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth. The palm-force drifted uncertainly, now empty, now solid, and bound all three monks’ palm-force fast at once.

Zhou Zhiruo leapt into the circle and reached Xie Xun’s side. Xie Xun cursed, “Pah, you wretch…” Zhou Zhiruo reached out and struck his dumb acupoint, then snapped, “You, surnamed Xie! Even now you use foul language? Your crimes reach the sky, and your life hangs in my hand. Do you think I cannot kill you?” With that she raised her right hand, fingers curved into a claw, and struck towards the crown of Xie Xun’s head.

Zhang Wuji was greatly alarmed at the sight and cried, “Zhiruo, do not!” At that moment he was pitting his lifetime of cultivation against the three monks. Though the monks had no intention of killing him, at such a pass where life and death hung on a hair’s breadth, either the opponent was wounded or one perished oneself. There was truly no room for the slightest mercy. The moment Zhang Wuji opened his mouth, his zhenqi leaked slightly, and the three monks’ palm-force surged towards him like an overturning mountain and a capsizing sea. He had no choice but to channel his strength to resist. Both sides, finding themselves at an impasse, had resorted to the Binding technique. Without determining victory or defeat, neither could disengage.

Zhou Zhiruo’s claw hung in the air but did not descend. She cast a cold sidelong glance at Zhang Wuji and said with an icy smile, “Zhang Wuji, that day in the city of Haozhou, when you abandoned me in the midst of our wedding ceremony, did you ever imagine there would be a day like this?”

Zhang Wuji’s mind was pulled three ways at once: anxious for Xie Xun’s life, angry that she had chosen this critical moment to settle old grievances, and above all hard-pressed by the ceaseless onslaught of the three Shaolin monks’ palm-force. Even had he concentrated wholly on defending, in the end he could not avoid defeat. Now, with his thoughts in such disarray, great disaster loomed. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. In an instant his chest, his back, and his robes were soaked through.

Yang Xiao, Fan Yao, Wei Yixiao, Cannot Tell, Yu Lianzhou, Yin Liting and the rest, seeing this situation, were all greatly alarmed and turned pale. Each of them had the same thought: they must save Zhang Wuji. Even if it cost their own lives, they would have no regret. But each knew their own neigong was insufficient. Never mind intervening to disentangle the exchange. Even if they rushed forward to attack the three Shaolin monks, the monks would effortlessly redirect the external force onto Zhang Wuji, increasing the burden upon him still further. To rescue him would only be to harm him.

Kongzhi cried aloud, “Three shishus,¹⁶ Order Leader Zhang has done our Order a kindness. I beg you to show mercy.”

But the four combatants’ exchange had reached a pitch where neither could extricate themselves. Zhang Wuji had never intended to harm the three monks, and the three monks, remembering how he had aided them not long ago, had long sought an opportunity to withdraw. But both sides were now like men astride a tiger, unable to dismount. The three monks had withdrawn their minds from the world and heard not Kongzhi’s cry. And even had they heard, there was nothing they could do.

Wei Yixiao’s figure flickered and he darted like a wisp of smoke between the broken pines, poised to pounce upon Zhou Zhiruo. But he saw her right hand poised in the air. If he attacked, her claw would surely strike down upon Xie Xun’s head at once. Were Xie Xun to die, Zhang Wuji’s grief would be so great that he would immediately perish beneath the three monks’ palm-force. Wei Yixiao stood less than ten feet from Zhou Zhiruo but froze in place, not daring to advance. For a time, every person on the peak seemed turned to stone. All held their breath, motionless, without a sound.

Suddenly Zhou Dian laughed uproariously and strode forward.

Yang Xiao was startled and cried, “Brother Zhou, do not be reckless!” But Zhou Dian paid no heed. He walked up before the three Shaolin monks and said with a grin, “You three Great Monks, do you eat dog meat or not?” He reached into his robe and pulled out a cooked dog leg, waving it in front of Du’e. For the past two days the Shaolin Monastery¹⁷ had served only vegetarian food. Zhou Dian loved wine and meat. After several days of greens and tofu, how could he endure it? Last night he had stolen a dog, slaughtered it and eaten his fill, and still had one leg remaining. Now, with matters urgent, he went to disturb the three Shaolin monks’ concentration. When Yang Xiao and the rest saw this, they were all greatly pleased, thinking: “Zhou Dian usually acts like a madman, but this move is a masterstroke.” All knew that in a contest of neili, the key lay entirely in single-minded concentration. If Zhou Dian went forward with his nonsense and even one monk felt anger and his focus wavered for an instant, Zhang Wuji could win.

The three monks looked but did not see, paying him no heed. Zhou Dian raised the dog leg to his mouth and bit it, saying, “What a fine fragrance! What a fine flavour! You three Great Monks, try a bite!” Seeing that the three monks showed not the slightest reaction, he pressed the dog leg against Du’e’s mouth. Just as he was about to stuff it between his lips, the Shaolin monks watching from the sidelines shouted, “You lunatic there, step back at once!” Zhou Dian pushed the dog leg forward. The moment it touched Du’e’s lips, suddenly his arm gave a violent jolt, half his body went numb, and with a crack the dog leg fell to the ground. It was that Du’e’s neili now suffused his entire body, reaching the stage where not a fly could alight. The moment any external force touched his limbs and bones, it was repelled at once.

Footnotes

1. 金刚伏魔圈 – Jīngāng Fú Mó Quān. The Diamond Subduing Demon Circle. A formation wielded by the three Shaolin monks of the Bodhidharma Hall, who sit in three pine trees and extend black cords in interconnected defence. ↩

2. 武林 – wǔlín. Lit. martial forest. The community of martial artists and their codes, distinct from the itinerant jianghu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 故剑情深 – gù jiàn qíng shēn. Lit. “deep feeling for the old sword.” An idiom meaning a man’s faithfulness to his first wife, from a story of Emperor Xuan of Han. ↩

4. 内功 – nèigōng. Internal cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force; the kinetic manifestation of qi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 时辰 – shíchén. A traditional Chinese unit of time, equivalent to two hours. ↩

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. 圣火令 – Shènghuǒ Lìng. The Holy Fire Tablets. Twelve sacred tablets of the Ming Order, symbols of supreme authority. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 真气 – zhēnqì. Refined qi arising from internal cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 太极拳 – Tàijí Quán. Taiji Fist. The Wudang Order’s foundational unarmed technique embodying yin-yang balance. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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. 斤 – jīn. A traditional Chinese unit of weight, approximately 590 grams in the Ming dynasty. ↩

14. 少林派 – Shàolín Pài. The Shaolin Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 穴 – xué. Acupoints; vital points on the body’s meridian network. ↩

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

17. 少林寺 – Shàolín Sì. The Shaolin Monastery. The ancient Buddhist monastery on Mount Song, seat of the Shaolin Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩